thou

1 of 3

pronoun

ˈt͟hau̇

archaic

: the one addressed

thou shalt have no other gods before me—

Exodus 20:3 (King James Version)

—used especially in ecclesiastical or literary language and by Friends as the universal form of address to one person compare thee, thine, thy, ye, you

thou

2 of 3

verb

thoued; thouing; thous

transitive verb

: to address as thou

thou

3 of 3

noun

ˈthau̇

plural thou

: a thousand of something (such as dollars)

paid 25 thou for the car

Examples of thou in a Sentence

Noun She earns more than a hundred thou a year.

Word History

Etymology

Pronoun

Middle English, from Old English thū; akin to Old High German dū thou, Latin tu, Greek sy, Sanskrit tvam (dative tubhyam/te, accusative tvām/tvā)

Noun

short for thousand

First Known Use

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1867, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of thou was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century