thou

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Wikipedia

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1 1.1.1 Pronunciation 1.1.2 Pronoun 1.1.2.1 Usage notes 1.1.2.2 Derived terms 1.1.2.3 Translations 1.1.3 Verb 1.1.3.1 Translations 1.2 Etymology 2 1.2.1 Pronunciation 1.2.2 Noun 1.2.2.1 Synonyms 1.3 Etymology 3 1.3.1 Pronunciation 1.3.2 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology 1

Middle English thou, thow, thu, þou from Old English þū. Akin to Old Saxon & Old Frisian ðū, Old High German dū (German du), Old Norse þú (Danish, Swedish and Norwegian du), Latin tu, Greek σύ (sý), Frisian do.

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: thou, IPA: /ðaʊ/, SAMPA: /DaU/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -aʊ

[edit] Pronoun

Wikipedia

thou (second person singular nominative case, plural ye or you, objective case thee, reflexive thyself, possessive determiner thy (thine before a vowel), possessive pronoun thine)

1. (archaic or dialectal) you (singular informal)

[edit] Usage notes

• Thou is used with the archaic second-person singular of verbs, which usually ends in -est, as in, for example, “Lovest thou me?” Exceptions (forms without s) include: art (of be), shalt (of shall) and wilt (of will).

[edit] Derived terms

• thou'rt

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to thou (third-person singular simple present thous, present participle thouing, simple past and past participle thoued)

1. (transitive) To address (a person) using the pronoun thou, esp. as an expression of familiarity or contempt.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘On the City Wall’, In Black and White, Folio Society 2005, p. 443:

     "One service more, Sahib, since thou hast come so opportunely," said Lalun. "Wilt thou" – it is very nice to be thou-ed by Lalun – "take this old man across the City [...] to the Kumharsen Gate?"

   I thou thee, thou traitor! (Edward Coke to Walter Raleigh)

   Don't thou them as thous thee! (Yorkshire English admonition to overly familiar children)

2. (intransitive) To use the word thou.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Etymology 2

Shortened from thousandth.

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: thou, IPA: /θaʊ/, SAMPA: /TaU/

  Rhymes: -aʊ

[edit] Noun

thou (plural thous)

1. (British) A unit of length equal to one-thousandth of an inch.

[edit] Synonyms

• mil (US)

[edit] Etymology 3

Shortened from thousand.

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: thou, IPA: /θaʊ/, SAMPA: /TaU/

  Rhymes: -aʊ

[edit] Noun

thou (plural thou)

1. (slang) A thousand, especially a thousand dollars, a thousand pounds sterling, etc.