thou
n. · v.-
1 one thousand (n.) C1 Advanced Informal Slanga short way of saying 'a thousand', usually referring to money.
a colloquial clipping of 'thousand', frequently applied to currency units.
ExampleThe repairs on the car are going to cost at least a couple of thou.
ExampleHe managed to clear ten thou in a single weekend of trading, though he lost half of it by Monday morning.
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2 one thousandth of an inch (n.) C2 Proficiency Technical Sciencea very small unit of length used by engineers.
a unit of measurement equal to 0.001 inches, commonly used in precision engineering and manufacturing.
ExampleThe metal sheet was only a few thou thick.
ExampleThe machinist adjusted the lathe to ensure the final diameter was accurate to within half a thou.
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3 to call someone 'thou' (v.) C2 Proficiency Archaic Literaryto use the word 'thou' when speaking to someone.
to address a person using the pronoun 'thou'. Historically, this could imply intimacy or, conversely, a deliberate insult by refusing to use the formal 'you'.
ExampleThe judge was angry when the prisoner began to thou him.
ExampleIn the seventeenth century, to thou a social superior was considered a grave breach of etiquette and a sign of open defiance.
From Middle English thou, tho, thogh, thoue, thouȝ, thow, thowe, tou, towe, thu, thue, thugh, tu, you (Northern England), ðhu, þeou, þeu, þou (the latter three early Southwest England), from Old English þū, from Proto-West Germanic þū, from Proto-Germanic þū (“you (singular), thou”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you, thou”). cognates and usage evolution The English word is cognate with Saterland Frisian du (“thou”), West Frisian do (“thou”), dialectal Dutch du, dou, douw (“thou”), Limburgish doe (“thou”), Low German du (“thou”), German du (“thou”), Danish du (“thou”), Swedish du (“thou”), Norwegian Nynorsk du (“thou”), Faroese tú (“thou”), Icelandic þú (“thou”), Gothic 𐌸𐌿 (þu, “thou”), Latin tu, Ancient Greek σύ (sú) (Doric Ancient Greek τύ (tú), Greek εσύ (esý)), Irish tu, Lithuanian tu, Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty), Welsh ti, Armenian դու (du), Albanian ti, Persian تو (to). The informality of thou and its replacement by ye in formal situations date only to the 14th century and come from French influence, since French (as many European languages, but not Old English) uses the second-person plural (vous) instead of the second-person singular (tu) as a mark of politeness or respect.
From Late Middle English thouen, theu, thew, thou, thowe, thowen, thui, thuy (“to address (a person) with thou, particularly in a contemptuous or polite manner”), from the pronoun thou: see etymology 1 above.
Clipping of thou(sandth).
Clipping of thou(sand).
See though.