thread

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English threed, þred, from Old English þrǽd, ðrǽd, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”). Near cognates include Dutch draad German Draht, Icelandic þráður and Norwegian, Danish and Swedish tråd.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /θrɛd/, SAMPA: /TrEd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛd

Noun

thread (plural threads)

1. A long, thin and flexible form of material, generally with a round cross-section, used in sewing, weaving or in the construction of string.
2. A theme or idea.

   All of these essays have a common thread.

   I’ve lost the thread of what you’re saying.

3. A sequence of connections.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII

     I was pondering these things, when an incident, and a somewhat unexpected one, broke the thread of my musings.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21

     "Let him go on. Do not interrupt him. He cannot go back, and maybe could not proceed at all if once he lost the thread of his thought."

4. (Internet) A series of messages, generally grouped by subject, all but the first replies to previous messages in the thread.
5. (computing) A unit of execution, lighter in weight than a process, generally expected to share memory and other resources with other threads executing concurrently.
6. A helical ridge or groove, as on a screw.
7. The line midway between the banks of a stream.

Synonyms

• (theme): topic

Translations

long, thin and flexible form of material

Albanian: fill (sq) m., pe (sq) m. Arabic: خيط (ar) (kháyT) m. Egyptian Arabic: خيط (xéṭ) m. Armenian: թել (hy) (t’el) Catalan: fil (ca) m. Chamicuro: kishemolo Chinese: Mandarin: 線 (cmn), 线 (cmn) (xiàn) Croatian: nit (hr) f. Czech: nit (cs) f., vlákno (cs) n. Danish: tråd (da) c. Dutch: draad (nl) m., garen (nl) n. Esperanto: fadeno (eo) Faroese: tráður (fo) m. Finnish: lanka (fi), rihma (fi), kuitu (fi), säie (fi) French: fil (fr) m. Georgian: ძაფი (dzap‘i) German: Faden (de) m., Garn (de) n., Zwirn (de) m. Greek: νήμα (el) n., κλωστή (el) (klostí) f. Hebrew: חוט (hoot) Hungarian: cérna (hu) Italian: filo (it) m. Japanese: 糸 (ja) (いと, ito)

Korean: 실 (sil) Kurdish: په‌ت (ku) Latin: filum (la) Latvian: diegs (lv) m. Lithuanian: siūlas (lt) m. Mongolian: утас (mn) (utas) Norwegian: tråd (no) m. Persian: نخ  (fa) Polish: nić (pl) f., nitka (pl) f. Portuguese: fio (pt) m. Romanian: ață (ro) f., tort (ro) m. and f., fir (ro) m. and f. Russian: нить (ru) (nit’) f., нитка (ru) (nítka) f. Scottish Gaelic: stìom (gd) f. Serbian: нит (sr) (nit) f. Sichuan Yi: ꑟ (xi) Slovak: niť (sk) f., nitka (sk) f., vlákno (sk) n. Slovene: nit (sl) f. Spanish: hilo (es) m. Swedish: tråd (sv) Telugu: దారము (daaramu) Thai: ด้าย (dâai), เชือก (chêuak) Turkish: tire (tr) Ukrainian: нитка (uk) (nýtka) f.

theme or idea

Catalan: fil conductor (ca) m. Croatian: nit (hr) f. Dutch: onderwerp f., rode draad m. Finnish: juoni (fi) German: Thema (de) n.

Greek: θέμα (el) (théma) n. Italian: filo (it) m., filo conduttore (it) m. Polish: wątek (pl) m. Slovene: nit (sl) f. Spanish: tema (es) m., argumento (es) m.

internet: series of messages

Arabic: موضوع (ar) (mawDuu3) m. Catalan: fil (ca) m., tema (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 主題 (cmn), 主题 (cmn) (zhǔtí), 論題 (cmn), 论题 (cmn) (lùntí), 話題 (cmn), 话题 (cmn) (huàtí) Croatian: nit (hr) f. Dutch: topic (nl) f., onderwerp (nl) f., draad (nl) Finnish: säie (fi) French: fil (fr) m. German: Diskussionsfaden (de) m., roter Faden (de) m., Thread (de) m.

Greek: νήμα (el) (níma) n. Italian: forum (it) m. Japanese: スレッド (ja) (sureddo), スレ (ja) (sure) Polish: wątek (pl) m., temat (pl) m. Portuguese: tópico (pt) m. Russian: ветка (ru) (vétka) f., тема (ru) (téma) f., дискуссия (ru) (diskússija) f., тред (ru) (tred) m. Spanish: tema (es), tópico (es) Swedish: tråd (sv) c.

computing: unit of execution

Chinese: Mandarin: 分身 (cmn) (fēnshēn), 線 (cmn), 线 (cmn) (xiàn), 線程 (cmn), 线程 (cmn) (xiànchéng) Croatian: nit (hr) f., dretva (hr) f. Czech: vlákno (cs) n. Dutch: thread (nl) Finnish: säie (fi)

French: processus léger (fr) German: Thread (de) m. Japanese: スレッド (ja) (sureddo), ライトウェイトプロセス (ja) (raito-purosesu) Polish: wątek (pl) m. Russian: поток (ru) (potók) m., тред (ru) (tred) m. Spanish: subproceso (es) m., proceso ligero (es) m.

engineering: helical ridge or groove, as on a screw

Catalan: solc (ca) m. Czech: závit (cs) m. Finnish: kierre (fi) French: pas (fr) m., filetage (fr) m. German: Gewinde n., Gewindegang m.

Greek: σπείρωμα (el) (speíroma) n., πάσο (el) (páso) n. Hungarian: menet (hu) Italian: filetto (it) m. Polish: gwint m. Spanish: rosca (es) f., filete (es) m.

Derived terms

hang by a thread quadruple thread screw thread threadbare

thread necromancy thread count threader thready

Verb

thread (third-person singular simple present threads, present participle threading, simple past threaded, (archaic) thrid, past participle threaded, (archaic) thridden)

1. (transitive) To put thread through.

   thread a needle

2. (transitive) To pass (through a narrow constriction or around a series of obstacles).

   I think I can thread my way through here, but it’s going to be tight.

Translations

put thread through

Dutch: bedraden Finnish: pujottaa (fi)

German: einfädeln Icelandic: þræða (is)

to pass

Chinese: Mandarin: 穿梭 (chuānsuō) Dutch: passeren voorbij gaan Finnish: pujotella (fi)

French: filer (fr) German: passieren, durchkommen Spanish: pasar (es)

Derived terms

threaded (as adjective)

multithreaded

Anagrams

• dareth
• dearth
• hatred

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Italian

Etymology

From English thread

Noun

thread m. inv.

1. (Internet) thread (series of messages)