thou
1[ thou ]
/ ðaʊ /
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pronoun, singular, nominative thou;possessive thy or thine;objective thee;plural, nominative you or ye;possessive your or yours;objective you or ye.
verb (used with object)
to address as “thou,” especially during an era of historical English when “thou” was distinguished as an informal form of you: It would have been scandalous for household staff to thou the lord of the manor.
verb (used without object)
to use “thou” in discourse: There are still Quakers who thou as a matter of custom.
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Origin of thou
1First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English thū; cognate with German, Middle Dutch du, Old Norse thū, Gothic thu, Old Irish tú, Welsh, Cornish ti, Latin tū, Doric Greek tý, Lithuanian tù, Old Church Slavonic ty; akin to Sanskrit tvam; (verb) late Middle English thowen, derivative of the pronoun
Definition for thou (2 of 2)
thou2
[ thou ]
/ θaʊ /
noun, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou.Slang.
one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.
Origin of thou
2First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for thou
British Dictionary definitions for thou (1 of 2)
thou1
/ (ðaʊ) /
pronoun (subjective)
archaic, dialect refers to the person addressed: used mainly in familiar address or to a younger person or inferior
(usually capital) refers to God when addressed in prayer, etc
Word Origin for thou
Old English thū; related to Old Saxon thū, Old High German du, Old Norse thū, Latin tū, Doric Greek tu
British Dictionary definitions for thou (2 of 2)
thou2
/ (θaʊ) /
noun plural thous or thou
one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
informal short for thousand
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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