From Middle English thou, tho, thogh, thoue, thouȝ, thow, thowe, tou, towe, thu, thue, thugh, tu, you (Northern England), ðhu, þeou, þeu, þou (the latter three early Southwest England), from Old English þū, from Proto-West Germanic *þū, from Proto-Germanic *þū (“you (singular), thou”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you, thou”).
cognates and usage evolution
The English word is cognate with Saterland Frisian du (“thou”), West Frisian do (“thou”), dialectal Dutch du, dou, douw (“thou”), Limburgish doe (“thou”), Low German du (“thou”), dialectal German dau (“thou”), German du (“thou”), Danish du (“thou”), Swedish du (“thou”), Norwegian Nynorsk du (“thou”), Faroese tú (“thou”), Icelandic þú (“thou”), Gothic 𐌸𐌿 (þu, “thou”), Latin tu, Ancient Greek σύ (sú) (Doric Ancient Greek τύ (tú), Greek εσύ (esý)), Irish tú, Lithuanian tu, Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty), Welsh ti, Armenian դու (du), Albanian ti, Persian تو (to), Gujarati તું (tũ), Hindi तू (tū).
The informality of thou and its replacement by ye in formal situations date only to the 14th century and come from French influence, since French (as many European languages, but not Old English) uses the second-person plural (vous) instead of the second-person singular (tu) as a mark of politeness or respect.
Meanings
(archaic, dialectal, form-of, literary, nominative, singular) Nominative singular of ye (“you”).
[...] Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall giue thee light. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:14:
Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion! 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 137:
Art thou in earnest about thy soul? and canst thou tell the Searcher of Hearts, Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for? Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I would love thee? 1742 April 4, Charles Wesley, A Sermon Preached on Sunday, April 4, 1742. Before the University of Oxford, London: Printed by J. Paramore, […], published 1783, →OCLC, page 10:
dsb ty (singular nominative form of you) · oj giin (singular nominative form of you) · mwl tu (singular nominative form of you) · pl ty (singular nominative form of you) · arz انت (singular nominative form of you) · vi mi (singular nominative form of you) · aeb اِنْتِ (singular nominative form of you) · cy ti (singular nominative form of you) · si ඔයා (singular nominative form of you) · ota تو (singular nominative form of you) · roa-gal tu (singular nominative form of you) · sc tue (singular nominative form of you) · ko 너 (singular nominative form of you) · fr tu (singular nominative form of you) · lld tu (singular nominative form of you) · nl jij (singular nominative form of you) · cmn 汝 (singular nominative form of you) · zlw-opl ty (singular nominative form of you) · th คุณ (singular nominative form of you) · ruq tu (singular nominative form of you) · scn tu (singular nominative form of you) · fro tu (singular nominative form of you) · pt vós (singular nominative form of you) · el εσύ (singular nominative form of you) · yo ìwọ (singular nominative form of you) · th เธอ (singular nominative form of you) · roa-leo tu (singular nominative form of you) · lo ຄຸນ (singular nominative form of you) · rm tu (singular nominative form of you) · mxi ت (singular nominative form of you) · ur تم (singular nominative form of you) · arz انت (singular nominative form of you) · ast tu (singular nominative form of you) · mk ти (singular nominative form of you) · id kamu (singular nominative form of you) · ext tú (singular nominative form of you) · ar أَنْتِ (singular nominative form of you) · ang þū (singular nominative form of you) · oc tu (singular nominative form of you) · nod ᨮᩮᩬᩥ (singular nominative form of you) · de Du (singular nominative form of you) · fax tu (singular nominative form of you) · ko 당신 (singular nominative form of you) · lad tu (singular nominative form of you) · yrl indé (singular nominative form of you) · bn তুই (singular nominative form of you) · bg ти (singular nominative form of you) · gd thu (singular nominative form of you) · it tu (singular nominative form of you) · lo ເຖີ (singular nominative form of you) · fi sinä (singular nominative form of you) · tr sen (singular nominative form of you) · roa-ona tu (singular nominative form of you) · fo tú (singular nominative form of you) · as তই (singular nominative form of you) · hi तू (singular nominative form of you) · khb ᦵᦒᦲ (singular nominative form of you) · osp tu (singular nominative form of you) · pcd tu (singular nominative form of you) · sco thoo (singular nominative form of you) · dlm te (singular nominative form of you) · yi דו (singular nominative form of you) · tl ikaw (singular nominative form of you) · sga tú (singular nominative form of you) · ar أَنْتَ (singular nominative form of you) · cu тꙑ (singular nominative form of you) · gl tu (singular nominative form of you) · is þú (singular nominative form of you) · ru ты (singular nominative form of you) · khb ᦆᦳᧃ (singular nominative form of you) · rm tü (singular nominative form of you) · bdz theen (singular nominative form of you) · ur تو (singular nominative form of you) · lo ມືງ (singular nominative form of you) · vec ti (singular nominative form of you) · cmn 祢 (singular nominative form of you) · wa tu (singular nominative form of you) · ja 汝 (singular nominative form of you) · fa تو (singular nominative form of you) · lt tu (singular nominative form of you) · pt tu (singular nominative form of you) · khb ᦙᦹᧂ (singular nominative form of you) · wrh ngindu (singular nominative form of you) · got 𐌸𐌿 (singular nominative form of you) · ruo tú (singular nominative form of you) · hsb ty (singular nominative form of you) · nap tu (singular nominative form of you) · ka შენ (singular nominative form of you) · sv du (singular nominative form of you) · cmn 爾 /尔 (singular nominative form of you) · lad טו (singular nominative form of you) · vi ngươi (singular nominative form of you) · he את (singular nominative form of you) · gl ti (singular nominative form of you) · ota انت (singular nominative form of you) · grc σύ (singular nominative form of you) · nrf tu (singular nominative form of you) · uk ти (singular nominative form of you) · es tú (singular nominative form of you) · cbk tu (singular nominative form of you) · ude си (singular nominative form of you) · hy դու (singular nominative form of you) · ro tu (singular nominative form of you) · he אתה (singular nominative form of you) · hit 𒍣𒄿𒅅 (singular nominative form of you) · da du (singular nominative form of you) · nl gij (singular nominative form of you) · nod ᨾᩨ᩠ᨦ (singular nominative form of you) · vi mày (singular nominative form of you) · hu te (singular nominative form of you) · yo o (singular nominative form of you) · cs ty (singular nominative form of you) · nod ᨤᩩᨶ (singular nominative form of you) · pro tu (singular nominative form of you) · fur tu (singular nominative form of you) · an tu (singular nominative form of you) · hi तुम (singular nominative form of you) · ja 君 (singular nominative form of you) · ota سن (singular nominative form of you) · de du (singular nominative form of you) · xqa سن (singular nominative form of you) · roa-oca tu (singular nominative form of you) · roa-opt tu (singular nominative form of you) · ms engkau (singular nominative form of you) · co tù (singular nominative form of you) · pox tåi (singular nominative form of you) · cmn 你 (singular nominative form of you) · ko 네 (singular nominative form of you) · la tu (singular nominative form of you) · tl ka (singular nominative form of you) · ja あなた (singular nominative form of you) · sk ty (singular nominative form of you) · sh tȋ (singular nominative form of you) · rup tu (singular nominative form of you) · no du (singular nominative form of you) · ga tú (singular nominative form of you) · io tu (singular nominative form of you) · ja お前 (singular nominative form of you) · otk 𐰾𐰤 (singular nominative form of you) · frm tu (singular nominative form of you) · sh ти̑ (singular nominative form of you) · jje 느 (singular nominative form of you) · ca tu (singular nominative form of you) · th มึง (singular nominative form of you) · gd tu (singular nominative form of you) · sl tí (singular nominative form of you) · eo ci (singular nominative form of you) · be ты (singular nominative form of you) · cu ⱅⱏⰺ (singular nominative form of you) · as তুমি আপুনি (singular nominative form of you) · yai ту (singular nominative form of you)
From Late Middle English thouen, theu, thew, thou, thowe, thowen, thui, thuy (“to address (a person) with thou, particularly in a contemptuous or polite manner”), from the pronoun thou: see etymology 1 above.
Meanings
(transitive) To address (a person) using the pronoun thou, especially as an expression of contempt or familiarity.
[T]aunt him with the licenſe of Inke: if thou thou'ſt him some thrice, it ſhall not be amiſſe, and as many Lyes, as will lye in thy ſheete of paper, although the ſheete were bigge enough for the bedde of Ware in England, ſet 'em downe, go about it. c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 266:
Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! / I am come of good kin, I tell thee! / My mother was a lady of the stews' blood born, / And (knight of the halter) my father ware an horn; / Therefore I take it in full great scorn, / That thou shouldest thus check me. c. 1530, “Hickscorner”, in W[illiam] Carew Hazlitt, editor, A Select Collection of Old English Plays. Originally Published by Robert Dodsley in the Year 1744. […], 4th edition, volume I, London: Reeves and Turner, […], published 1874, page 180:
What! doſt thou not believe that God's Thouing and Theeing was and is ſound Speech? [...] And Theeing & Thouing of one ſingle Perſon was the language of Chriſt Jeſus, and the Holy Prophets and Apoſtles both under the Diſpenſations of Law and Goſpel, [...] 1677, William Gibson, “An Answer to John Cheyney’s Pamphlet Entituled The Shibboleth of Quakerism”, in The Life of God, which is the Light and Salvation of Men, Exalted: […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 134:
The emperors before Rodolphus I. ſent all their mandates in Latin, thouing every prince, as the grammar of that language allows. This thouing of the counts of the empire was continued in the German language which diſallows ſuch expreſſions. 1755, [Voltaire [pseudonym; François-Marie Arouet]], “Ferdinand III. Forty-seventh Emperor.”, in Annals of the Empire from the Reign of Charlemagne […] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 257:
Attorney. [Edward Coke, Attorney General for England and Wales] All that he [Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham] did was by thy Inſtigation, thou viper; for I thou thee, thou Traitor. / Raleigh. [Walter Raleigh] It becometh not a Man of Quality and Virtue, to call me ſo: But I take comfort in it, it is all you can do. 1603 November 26, “The Tryal of Sir Walter Raleigh Kt. at Winton, on Thursday the 17th of November, Anno. Dom. 1603. in the First Year of King James the First”, in [Thomas Salmon], editor, A Compleat Collection of State-Tryals, and Proceedings upon Impeachment for High Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; […] In Four Volumes, volume I, London: Printed for Timothy Goodwin, […]; John Walthoe […]; Benj[amin] Tooke […]; John Darby […]; Jacob Tonson […]; and John Walthoe Jun. […], published 1719, →OCLC, page 177, column 2:
Don’t thou them as thous thee! – a Yorkshire English admonition to overly familiar children
Unfortunate we the duennas! though we descended in a direct male-line from Hector of Troy, our mistresses will never forbear "thouing" us, were they to be made queens for it. 1811, Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra, “Of Matters Relating and Appertaining to this Adventure, and to this Memorable History”, in Charles Jarvis, transl., The Life and Exploits of Don Quixote de la Mancha. Translated from the Spanish [...] In Four Volumes, volume IV, London: Printed [by Harding & Wright] for Lackington, Allen, and Co. [et al.], →OCLC, part II, book III, pages 57–58:
In Guy a duke in council thous his emperor [...] In Bevis the earl addresses the emperor of Almaine [...] while the young son of the family, Bevis, thous him not only as his father's murderer [...], but even when he is pretending friendship for him [...]. 1917, Russell Osborne Stidston, “Inferiors to Superiors”, in The Use of Ye in the Function of Thou in Middle English Literature from Ms. Auchinleck to Ms. Vernon: A Study of Grammar and Social Intercourse in Fourteenth-century England: […], Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University, →OCLC, section 1 (The Higher Classes to Royalty), page 22:
"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—the troops are everywhere, and they might hurt him for he is old—to the Kumharsen Gate?["] 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “On the City Wall”, in In Black and White (A. H. Wheeler & Co.’s Indian Railway Library; no. 3), 5th edition, Allahabad: Messrs. A. H. Wheeler & Co.; London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, Ld., […], published 1890, →OCLC, page 91:
(intransitive) To use the word thou.
You want to hear the word of God, and be challenged to go out and change the world. Instead, you are, for the fifth Sunday in a row, mewling on about purple-headed mountains (which is a bit of an imaginative stretch, since you live in East Anglia) and "theeing" and "thouing" all over the place. 2009, David R. Keeston [pseudonym; Alan D. Jenkins], “Seeing God in the Ordinary”, in The Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Gospel, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 39:
The hardcore role-players will wake up one day feeling, like a dead weight on their chest, the strain of endless texting in Renaissance Faire English—yet dutifully go on theeing and thouing all the same. 2006, Julian Dibbell, chapter 5, in Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, →ISBN:
pl tykać (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · cs tykat (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · nl tutoyeren (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · fi sinutella (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ms berengkau (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ru обраща́ться на «ты» (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sh говорити ти (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · et sinatama (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · is þúa (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · fo túa (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sl tíkati (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · tr sen (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ia tutear (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · es tutear (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · pt tutear (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · yi דוצן (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ru ты́кнуть (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sk tykať (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · be ты́каць (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sh ти́кати (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ast tutiar (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · da sige du (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · fr tutoyer (to use the word thou) · sh tíkati (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · is þúa (to use the word thou) · hu tegez (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · nb si 'du' (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ro a tutui (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · it dare del tu (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · uk ти́кати (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sv dua (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · nl jijen (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ko 너라고 부르다 (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · lt tujinti (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · sh govoriti ti (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · bg говоря на ти (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · pl mówić na ty (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · pt tratar por tu (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · fr tutoyer (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ja 呼び捨てにする (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · dsb tykaś (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · de duzen (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ca tutejar (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · nl jouen (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · oc tutejar (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · hsb tykać (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · ru ты́кать (to address (a person) using the familiar second-person pronoun) · nl tutoyeren (to use the word thou)
A unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch (25.4 µm).
But to continue, "At Horwich they had gone all scientific, and talked in 'thous.,' though apparently some of their work was to the nearest half-inch. […]." 1946 November and December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 344:
Make no mistake, we’re talking about some major repositioning; the rear ends of the cones didn’t move just a few thou’ or even 1/4 or 1/2 inch in one direction. These beauties moved around big time. 2000, Mike Bishop, Vern Tardel, “Bells and Whistles”, in How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod, revised edition, Osceola, Wis.: MBI Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 131, column 2:
We just wanted to take off a few thou, which we easily did with fine sandpaper.
All these methods remove metal and can, in fact, remove a few thou from the surface. For accurately machined parts, therefore, none of these methods are suitable but wet blasting with a fine alumina which gives a polishing–cleaning action may be operated within the required tolerances. 1984, Robert D. Adams, William C. Wake, “Surface Preparation”, in Structural Adhesive Joints in Engineering, Barking, Essex: Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, published 1986, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 220–221:
(slang) A thousand, especially a thousand of some currency (dollars, pounds sterling, etc.).
Butch [Cassidy] gave him 3 thous in cash 1 thous for the lawyer another thous if the lawyer wins & 1 thous for Tom O'Day. 1977, Larry Pointer, “Belle Fourche”, in In Search of Butch Cassidy (Red River Books), Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1988, →ISBN, page 132:
Well, we'll need a few thou, Carlos. Got to get together a few thou first. For rent, you know. Rent and making contacts with artists, all that. 2000 November, Sheri S[tewart] Tepper, “Benita”, in The Fresco, New York, N.Y.: Eos, HarperCollins, →ISBN; 1st Eos paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Eos, HarperCollins, February 2002, →ISBN, page 17:
He has a few thou in the account, enough to make your everyday living expenses, not enough to keep current with the bigger bills. 1999, Don Winslow, chapter 58, in California Fire and Life, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN; 1st Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, September 2007, →ISBN, page 169:
Whoa there, big spender — that'll cost you a few thou. Are you sure you can afford it?