thou

¹

[ thou ]

pronoun

plural: you or yeobjective: you or yepossessive: your or yoursobjective: theepossessive: thy or thinesingular: thou

1. 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.

2. (used by Quakers ) a familiar form of address of the second person singular:

   Thou needn’t apologize.

verb (used with object)

1. 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)

1. to use “thou” in discourse:

   There are still Quakers who thou as a matter of custom.

thou

²

[ thou ]

noun

, Slang.

, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou.

1. one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.

thou

¹

/ ðaʊ /

pronoun

1. archaic.
   refers to the person addressed: used mainly in familiar address or to a younger person or inferior
2. usually capital refers to God when addressed in prayer, etc

thou

²

/ θaʊ /

noun

1. one thousandth of an inch. 1 thou is equal to 0.0254 millimetre
2. informal.
   short for thousand

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of thou¹

Old English thū; related to Old Saxon thū, Old High German du, Old Norse thū, Latin tū, Doric Greek tu

Example Sentences

“When I do it, I'm trying not to be holier than thou in every way that I can. And I fail at that a fair amount.”

From Salon

Come right on me, I mean camaraderie, Said you're not in my timezone, but you wanna be Where art thou?

From Salon

Carpenter then purposefully make fun of the outrageousness of her desire for her partner, when she busts out a line from what feels like a Shakespearean sonnet, “Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?”

From Salon

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

"Nature, thou art my goddess".

From BBC