thin

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See also: Thìn, þin, and þín

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English thin, thinne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz ‎(“thin”), (compare Proto-Germanic *þanjaną ‎(“to stretch, spread out”)), from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us ‎(“thin”), from Proto-Indo-European *tenw(ə)- ‎(“to pull, stretch”). Cognate with Danish tynd ‎(“thin”), Dutch dun ‎(“thin”), Elfdalian tunn ‎(“thin”), Faroese tunnur ‎(“thin”), German dünn ‎(“thin”), Icelandic þunnur ‎(“thin”), Luxembourgish dënn ‎(“thin”), Norwegian tynn ‎(“thin”), Swedish tunn ‎(“thin”), Vilamovian dynn ‎(“thin”), West Frisian tin ‎(“thin”). Related to Breton tanav ‎(“thin”), Cornish tanow ‎(“thin”), Irish tanaí ‎(“thin”), Latin tenuis ‎(“thin”), Latvian tievs ‎(“thin”), Manx thanney ‎(“thin”), Persian تنگ ‎(“narrow”) Sanskrit तनु ‎(tanu, “thin”) Scottish Gaelic tana ‎(“thin”), Welsh tenau ‎(“thin”). Also related to tenuous.

Adjective[edit]

thin ‎(comparative thinner, superlative thinnest)

  1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
    thin plate of metal;  thin paper;  thin board;  thin covering‎
  2. Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
    thin wire;  thin string‎
  3. Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
    thin person
  4. Of low viscosity or low specific gravity, e.g., as is water compared to honey.
  5. Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.
    The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.
    • Addison
      Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.
  6. (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
  7. Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
    • Dryden
      thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams
  8. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
    a thin disguise

Synonyms[edit]

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Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from thin (adjective)

Translations[edit]

having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Noun[edit]

thin ‎(plural thins)

  1. (philately) A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
  2. Any food produced or served in thin slices.
    chocolate mint thins
    potato thins

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

thin ‎(third-person singular simple present thins, present participle thinning, simple past and past participle thinned)

  1. (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
  2. (intransitive) To become thin or thinner.
  3. To dilute.
  4. To remove some plants or parts of plants in order to improve the growth of what remains.
    • 2015 September 5, Mark Diacono, “In praise of the Asian pear”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)[1], archived from the original on 12 September 2015, page 3:
      So floriferous are Asian pears, and the tree so laden with young fruit, that as the tree approaches maturity it is worth considering thinning the fruit (I can't quite bring myself to thin the flowers) so as to neither overburden the tree for this year nor tire it for the next. Thinning early in the season, while the fruit is small, is ideal.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Adverb[edit]

thin ‎(comparative more thin, superlative most thin)

  1. Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
    seed sown thin
    • Francis Bacon
      Spain is thin sown of people.

External links[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Old Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *þīnaz.

Determiner[edit]

thīn

  1. thy, your (singular)
  2. thine, yours

Descendants[edit]

  • Middle Dutch: dijn

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *þīnaz.

Determiner[edit]

thīn

  1. thy, your (singular)
  2. thine, yours
Declension[edit]
Declension of thīn
Strong declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative thīn thīne thīn thīnu thīn thīne
accusative thīnana thīne thīn thīnu thīna thīne
genitive thīnes thīnarō thīnes thīnarō thīnaro thīnarō
dative thīnumu thīnum thīnumu thīnum thīnaro thīnum
Weak declension
gender masculine neuter feminine
case singular plural singular plural singular plural
nominative thīno thīnu thīna thīnu thīna thīnu
accusative thīnun thīnun thīna thīnun thīnun thīnun
genitive thīnun thīnonō thīnun thīnonō thīnun thīnonō
dative thīnun thīnum thīnun thīnum thīnun thīnum


See also[edit]

Old Saxon personal pronouns
Personal pronouns
Singular 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative ik thū hē siu it
Accusative mī, me, mik thī, thik ina sia
Dative mī thī imu iru it
Genitive mīn thīn is ira is
Dual 1. 2. - - -
Nominative wit git - - -
Accusative unk ink - - -
Dative
Genitive unkero - - -
Plural 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative wī, we gī, ge sia sia siu
Accusative ūs, unsik eu, iu, iuu
Dative ūs im
Genitive ūser euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera iro

Etymology 2[edit]

See here.

Determiner[edit]

thin

  1. Instrumental singular masculine and neuter form of thē

Welsh[edit]

Noun[edit]

thin

  1. Aspirate mutation of tin.

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
tin din nhin thin
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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