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thus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ðʌs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thus,[2] inherited from Old English þus (“in this way, as follows”),[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *þus,[3] the source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian thus and Middle Dutch and Dutch dus.[4][3][5] Barnhart, Merriam-Webster and Etymonline relate it to the demonstrative that and this,[4][2][3] but Hoad and the SOED call it of unknown origin.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“In this way”: Old English þus, about 725 in Beowulf.[4][7] The sense “to this extent, so” is found before 700.[7]

Semantic evolution

“In accordance with this, therefore, consequently” is from about 1200.[7] Thus far, “to this point”, is attested by the 1590s.[3] Middle English also used thuswise and thusgates, “in this manner”.[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as “in this manner; in this wise”.[8] The word is now chiefly literary or formal.[6] Jocular thusness is from the 19th century,[5] and thusly is a later, informal form.[3]

Timeline

  • before 700 – to this extent.[7]
  • c. 725 – in this way.[4][7]
  • c. 1200 – therefore.[7]
  • 1590s – thus far.[3]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. In this way; like this.
  2. As a result; therefore.
  3. To this degree or extent: thus far.
  4. For example.

Word family

  • thusly
  • that
  • this
  • so

Usage notes

A separate thus (late Middle English) is a name for frankincense or other resins, from Latin tūs, from Greek thýos “sacrifice, incense”.[6][7] In Yorkshire dialect thus and so meant “only middling” of health.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)