I. ˈthau̇ pronoun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English thū, thu (dative & accusative thē ); akin to Old High German dū, du thou (dative dir, accusative dih ), Old Norse thū (dative thēr, accusative thik ), Gothic thu (dative thus, accusative thuk ), Latin tu (dative tibi, accusative te ), Greek sy (dative soi, accusative se ), Sanskrit tvam (dative te, accusative tvā )
archaic : the one that is being addressed — used as a nominative pronoun of the second person singular especially in biblical, ecclesiastical, solemn, or poetic language
thou shalt have no other gods before me — Exod 20:3 (Authorized Version)
be thou our guide while life shall last — Isaac Watts
thou wast not born for death, immortal bird — John Keats
used in Middle English and in early modern English at least into the 17th century as the appropriate form of address to an intimate friend or a person of lower social status than the speaker and hence adopted by the early Friends as the universal form of address to one person in accordance with their belief in the quality of all persons before God — compare thee , thine , thy , ye , you
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English thouen, from thou, pron.
transitive verb
: to address as thou
intransitive verb
: to use thou in address
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: thou (I)
: the person or self of the one that is being addressed
in thinking I am related to general truth, to ideas, not to the thou of my neighbor — Emil Brunner
IV. ˈthau̇ noun
( plural thou or thous )
Etymology: short for thousand (I)
: a thousand of anything: as
a. : a thousand pounds
b. : a thousand dollars
V. abbreviation
thousand