thou
1 Americanpronoun
-
you,
plural, objective
-
ye,
plural, objective
-
thee,
objective
-
thy,
possessive
-
thine,
possessive
-
your,
possessive
-
yours
possessive
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
thous,
plural
-
thou
plural
pronoun
-
archaic 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
noun
-
one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
-
informal short for thousand
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of thou1
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
Origin of thou2
First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening
Explanation
The word thou, used in place of "you," is not used much in modern language. In fact, with its Biblical feeling, it’s most often used in religious contexts. Otherwise, it might be used as slang for thousand. Anyone familiar with the Bible knows the word thou means "you." As the word worked its way from Old English, it varied a little in its subtext, from a plural referring to higher-ups, then to equals, and, around 1450, as a slightly insulting reference suggesting inferiority. Today, it's used primarily by specific religious groups, or as a somewhat affected, archaic word in poetry. As a side note, if someone asks you for a thou, they mean a thousand dollars.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
“In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.”
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2023
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man,
From BBC ● May 5, 2023
"Nay, lad," said King Lune, "thou art my heir. The crown comes to thee."
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
An unpublished short story by Charlotte Brontë featuring flogging and embezzling, as well as a poem stuffed with thees and thous, have been discovered inside a book owned by the novelist’s mother.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 12, 2015
This is precisely the sort of diction that Tagore chose for the English Gitanjali, which, with its thees and thous, has so tried our patience.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2011
No thees or thous in a streamlined Shakespeare Suppose you wanted to modernize Shakespeare, pull him up by his Elizabethan pantoffles and bring his 37 plays into our more streamlined age.
From Time Magazine Archive
Well, first you would change the thees, the thous, the thys and the thines.
From Time Magazine Archive
Eef-a youse-a da want a kid, gett-a da mon a da quick—twenty da thous, for eesa tink a da move-a da way.
From An Oregon Girl A Tale of American Life in the New West by Alfred Ernest Rice
Get thee to a department store for some soft furnishings.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
Reflecting his deep interest in religion and spirituality, above the door is inscribed the prayer: "Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord."
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Like Donne, we can mine wisdom from the frailty of our mortal bodies—but be grateful that when the bell tolls for thee, plague, smallpox and typhus won’t be to blame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
“Words cannot express what your music has meant to me. Thank you for everything, and fare thee well, indeed.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
To which my answer is, Oh pish, sir, ’tis a tale of poison, escape, and desperate flight; surely of no interest to thee.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
The book is signed on the inside front cover in black ballpoint pen by Sir Paul, reading: "All the best! to ye!"
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
The former is known for promoting evangelism, as seen in Jesus’ directive in Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Chloé Zhao’s ye olde dysfunctional marriage weepie deserved a supporting actor nomination for 12-year-old Jacobi Jupe, who is so heartbreaking as William Shakespeare’s brave son that he casts a spell over the movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
Ho quoted from the Bible, Matthew 7:7—“Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
From Salon ● May 19, 2024
“Sorry to keep draggin’ ye down here every time your cousin gets out of line,” says Agent Fiona.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
“You can struggle and you can have joy,” he said at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
His idea sounds less wild when you recall that we’re really talking about small communities being targeted by hostile foreign actors, leading Braun to reason that the Department of Defense could possibly fund his effort.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
Here is what you need to know about the Trump assistant who has been called both a "gatekeeper" and a "comfort blanket".
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Not fixing a problem until a disaster forces you to is known in the airline industry as “tombstone regulation”: They don’t change the regulations, and fix a known problem, until planes crash and people die.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
“When you do,” Caesar instructs, “put your hands inside the loop and hold the horn. It might save you.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
“That was what my mama always used to say: to thine own self be true. I put a lot of stock in that,” she told The Guardian.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2023
For thine is the kingdom,The power, and the glory, For ever and ever.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
We continually talk about loving thine enemy, but really, just try to understand and forgive people you literally couldn’t stand at all just a little while ago.
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2021
Go tentpole-wide with “All superheroes wear masks,” or hit the prestige note with something like “Drink to me only with thine eyes.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2020
“Set thine house in order,” said his father, “for thou shalt die and not live.”
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
The Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday is from the sixth chapter of Matthew—the chapter in which Jesus teaches the disciples to recite the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
He offered words of wisdom for Thanksgiving: “Always do thy duty, which is best, leave unto the Lord the rest.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
As “The Ballad of the Witches Road” says, “Primal night, giveth sight familiar by thy side. If onе be gone, we carry on, spirit as our guidе.”
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2024
“Take thy rest for now, and thou wilt do better work next time. Here is Brother Luke coming to care for thee. I shall not tell him how nearly I lost my head.”
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
“It Ends,” a microbudget marvel by 20-something writer-director Alexander Ullom, has a straightforward premise that expands in your imagination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
“From a bond-investor’s perspective, the bottom line is about where you put your money to work,” said Henry Song, a portfolio manager at Diamond Hill.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Eliza, as people know it, is a therapy bot that begins conversations with “How do you do. Please tell me your problem” and offers open-ended questions to keep the conversation going.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
“It feels like you’re dialoguing with your healthcare provider,” Merrill said.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Brave Midnight. Give me your heart. Run as you’ve never run before.”
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Shahnaaz Khan, a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, said: "Look around you today, talk to someone you don't know and hold their pain with yours."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
‘Lovely bloke I’m told. Colleague of yours, yes?’
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
"So you search for one and when you find it, no-one else will have it: that sound is yours."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Ladies Room” was a zippy ode to the sanctity of a room of one’s own; “Time” promised that “It’s up to me to spend my time / I gave you yours, so give me mine.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
I would worry that you wouldn’t believe me, but I think it used to be yours, so you must know already.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
