I. ˈthau̇z ə n(d) noun
( plural thousands or thousand )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English thūsend; akin to Old High German dūsunt thousand, Old Norse thūsund, Gothic thūsundi; all from a prehistoric Germanic compound whose first constituent is akin to the first part of Lithuanian túkstantis thousand and of Russian tysyacha thousand and to Sanskrit tavas strong, tavīti he is strong, and whose second constituent is akin to Old English hund hundred — more at thumb , hundred
1. : 10 hundred; 100 times 10 — see number table
2.
a. : 1000 units or objects
a total of a thousand
a total of four thousand
b. : a group or set of 1000
3.
a. : the numerable quantity symbolized by the arabic numerals 1000
b. : the letter M
4. : the number occupying the position four to the left of the decimal point in the Arabic notation (as 2 in the number 2968) — usually used in plural
5. : a very large number
had thousands of things to do before the guests arrived
6.
a. : typeset matter equivalent to 1000 ems
he keyboards five thousand an hour
a piecework rate of $1 a thousand
b. Britain : typeset matter equivalent to 1000 ens
•
- by the thousand
II. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English thūsend, from thūsend, n.
1. : being 1000 in number
a thousand years
— usually preceded by a or a numeral (as one, four )
2. : being very great in number
a thousand questions
— usually preceded by a or a numeral (as one, four )
3. obsolete : thousandth