thou

C2+ Topic:Grammar & Function Words

US /ðaʊ/ UK /ðaʊ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like vow /ð/ vs /v/ Sounds like dao /ð/ vs /d/

Meanings

1

pron
archaic second-person singular pronoun meaning you

Thou art the fairest of them all, the mirror replied.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 pron · archaic second-person... you thee

Word family

Forms thinethou’rtthy

Derived forms theethythine

Related forms theethythinethyself

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

beggar-thy-neighbor policy
an economic policy intended to benefit one country at the expense of other countries

Fixed expression

Proverbs (2)

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Etymology

From Old English thu, from Proto-Germanic *thu, from the Proto-Indo-European second-person singular pronoun *tu.

thu Old English *thu Proto-Germanic *tu Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words Register & Style

External links

# thou

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** pron
**IPA (US):** /ðaʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /ðaʊ/

## Meanings
1. archaic second-person singular pronoun meaning you

## Examples
- Thou art the fairest of them all, the mirror replied.

## Synonyms
- you
- thee

## Derived Forms
- thee
- thy
- thine

## Related Forms
- thee
- thy
- thine
- thyself

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: thu
- Root: *thu
- Root: *tu

## Etymology
From Old English thu, from Proto-Germanic *thu, from the Proto-Indo-European second-person singular pronoun *tu.

## AI Etymology
Thou is from Old English thu, from Proto-Germanic *thu, from the Proto-Indo-European second-person singular pronoun *tu. Important recorded forms include thu (Old English), *thu (Proto-Germanic), and *tu (Proto-Indo-European). The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers archaic second-person singular pronoun meaning you. The wider family includes derived forms such as thee, thy, and thine and related words such as thee, thy, thine, and thyself.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words
- Register & Style

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