thou English · revision 7147

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ine-pro *túh₂}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ðaʊ/, /ðuː/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|þū|t=thou]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *þū,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) source also of Dutch and German [[m|de|du]], Old Norse [[m|non|þú]] and Gothic þu,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE [[ine-pro|*túh₂|alt=*tu|t=you (singular)]], also the source of Latin [[m|la|tu]], Greek sy (Doric ty), Lithuanian tù, Old Church Slavonic ty and Sanskrit tvam.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The second person singular pronoun: about 725, in Beowulf, in Barnhart; about 825 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was superseded in Middle English by the plural [[you]], from a different root, but kept in some dialects and by the early Quakers.^(Etymonline) The plural was used first to superiors, then to strangers and finally to all equals; by about 1450 thou, used to inferiors, carried a tinge of insult unless between parents and children or intimates.^(Etymonline) Hence the verb ''to thou'' someone (mid-15th century).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Archaic language preserves forms such as ''artou'' and ''hastou''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – thou.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – to thou, address as thou (verb).^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1450 – thou to inferiors felt as insulting.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''(archaic or dialect)'' [[you]], used to address one person, as the subject of a verb, especially in literary, liturgical or devotional language.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To address someone as thou.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[holier-than-thou]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tutoyer]]

+ * [[thee]]

+ * [[thy]]

+ * [[thine]]

+ * [[you]]

+ * [[ye]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A colloquial thou, short for [[thousand]], especially a thousandth of an inch, is from 1867.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}