thousand

noun

thou·​sand ˈthau̇-zᵊn(d) 

plural thousands or thousand

1

: a number equal to 10 times 100 see Table of Numbers

2

: a very large number

thousands of ants

thousand adjective

thousandfold

ˈthau̇-zᵊn(d)-ˌfōld 

adjective or adverb

thousandth

ˈthau̇-zᵊn(t)th 

adjective or noun

Examples of thousand in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As part of the case, prosecutors have relied on thousands of pages of text messages, email exchanges, explicit videos, photographic evidence, note app entries, law enforcement reports, and bank and travel records dating back years. —Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2025

The war lasts for eight years, and hundreds of thousands of people die. —Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 26 June 2025

South Sudan has experienced an increase in violence due to rising political tensions, according to the Associated Press, which reported that hundreds of thousands of people died during a five-year civil war, which began in 2013, prior to a peace deal being reached in 2018. —Logan Holland, People.com, 26 June 2025

Although organizers initially expected 3 million visitors, attendance was reportedly only in the hundreds of thousands. —Emma Sarappo, The Atlantic, 25 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English thūsend; akin to Old High German dūsunt thousand, Lithuanian tūkstantis, and probably to Sanskrit tavas strong, Latin tumēre to swell — more at thumb entry 1

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing thousand

• a picture is worth a thousand words
• bat a thousand
• never/not in a thousand/million/billion years
• thousand-legger

Kids Definition

thousand

noun

thou·​sand ˈthau̇z-ᵊn(d) 

plural thousands or thousand

1

: a number equal to 10 times 100 see number

2

: a very large number

thousands of ants

thousand adjective