thou

¹

[thou]

pronoun

singular

thou ,

possessive

thy, thine ,

objective

thee ,

plural

you, ye ,

possessive

your, yours ,

objective

you, ye .

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 byQuakers ) 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 ,

plural

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

The milkshake cup features Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

From Los Angeles Times

The inscription on its back partially reads: “Realizing the oneness of thy self with the eternal through unified consciousness. Man know thy self.”

From Los Angeles Times

Delhi emphasised its actions on Wednesday targeted terrorist infrastructure and said thee were chosen "based on credible intelligence inputs".

From BBC

"Suffer now, but have faith in Trump, and he will bestow upon thee a tradwife" is the basic pitch.

From Salon

They held signs saying "all life is precious" and "thou shalt not kill".

From BBC