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thou

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thou

1  [thou] ,pronoun, singular, nominative thou; possessive thy or thine; objective thee; plural, nominative you or ye; possessive your or yours; objective you or ye; verb
Use thou in a Sentence
–pronoun
1. Archaic (except in some elevated or ecclesiastical prose). the personal pronoun of the second person singular in the nominative case (used to denote the person or thing addressed): Thou shalt not kill.
2. (used by the Friends) a familiar form of address of the second person singular.
–verb (used with object)
3. to address as “thou.”
–verb (used without object)
4. to use “thou” in discourse.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE thū; c. G, MD du, ON thū, Goth thu, OIr tú, Welsh, Cornish ti, L tū, Doric Gk tý, Lith tù, OCS ty; akin to Skt tvam; (v.) late ME thowen, deriv. of the pronoun

thou

2  [thou] ,
–noun, plural thous, (as after a numeral) thou. Slang.
one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.
Origin:
1865–70; by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To thou
thou 1   (thou)   
pron.  Used to indicate the one being addressed, especially in a literary, liturgical, or devotional context.

[Middle English, from Old English thū, second person nominative sing. personal pron.; see tu- in Indo-European roots.]
thou 2   (thou)   
n.   Slang
A thousand, especially of dollars.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
thou [θɑʊ]

  1. n.
    one thousand. : I managed to get a couple of thou from the bank, but I need a little more than that.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

thou 
2nd nominative singular personal pronoun, O.E. þu, from P.Gmc. *thu (cf. O.Fris. thu, M.Du., M.L.G. du, O.H.G., Ger. du, O.N. þu, Goth. þu), from PIE *tu-, second person singular pronoun (cf. L. tu, Ir. tu, Welsh ti, Gk. su, Lith. tu, O.C.S. ty, Skt. twa-m). Superseded in M.E. by plural form you (from a different root), but retained in certain dialects (e.g. Philadelphia Quakers). The plural at first was used in addressing superior individuals, later also (to err on the side of propriety) strangers, and ultimately all equals. By c.1450 the use of thou to address inferiors gave it a tinge of insult unless addressed by parents to children, or intimates to one another. Hence the verb meaning "to use 'thou' to a person" (c.1440).
"Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! I am come of good kin, I tell thee!"["Hickscorner," c.1530]
A brief history of the second person pronoun in Eng. can be found here.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
thou
thousand
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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