thou

[ thou ]

See synonyms for: thou 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.

Origin of thou

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

Words Nearby thou

Other definitions for thou (2 of 2)

thou²

[ thou ]

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

one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.

Origin of thou

First recorded in 1865–70; by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use thou in a sentence

In the Old Testament, God tells King David that he cannot build the temple because “thou has been a man of war and has shed blood.”
Colin Powell Reflects on His Mistakes in This Unpublished TIME Interview | Belinda Luscombe | October 19, 2021 | Time
What we would like to do to eliminate or reduce poverty is pass a law that says, “thou shalt not be poor” or “We shall not have poor families.”
The True Story of the Minimum-Wage Fight (Ep. 460) | Stephen J. Dubner | April 29, 2021 | Freakonomics
In an arms races to prove they are holier than thou, rabbis add more and more prohibitions and prerequisites.
Why Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Babies Keep Getting Herpes | Emily Shire | July 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Three times,” he says angrily, “thou shalt betray me ere the cock crows.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial | Ivan Solotaroff | June 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Officials say thou-sands of International school boys may have crossed paths with William Vahey.
Pedophile Teacher Drugged, Abused 90 Students From Managua to London | Nico Hines | April 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
The Story of Noah's Ark From the Bible’s Book of Genesis | The Daily Beast | March 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
The Story of Noah's Ark From the Bible’s Book of Genesis | The Daily Beast | March 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
Solely over one man therein thou hast quite absolute control.
Pearls of Thought | Maturin M. Ballou
For it is better that thy children should ask of thee, than that thou look toward the hands of thy children.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
In the time when thou shalt end the days of thy life, and in the time of thy decease, distribute thy inheritance.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
Forget it not: for there is no returning, and thou shalt do him no good, and shalt hurt thyself.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various

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

Origin of 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) /

nounplural 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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