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thou

1
[ thou ]
/ ðaʊ /
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See synonyms for: yours / your / you on Thesaurus.com

pronoun, singular, nominative thou;possessive thy or thine;objective thee;plural, nominative you or ye;possessive your or yours;objective you or ye.
Archaic except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose. the second person singular subject pronoun, equivalent to modern you (used to denote the person or thing addressed): Thou shalt not kill.
(used by Quakers) a familiar form of address of the second person singular: Thou needn’t apologize.
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

1
First 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

Other definitions 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

2
First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use thou in a sentence

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 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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