thread

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thin strand of cotton, silk, or other material used for sewing.

   She sewed the button back on with a needle and thread.

2. 2
   verb

   To pass thread or something thin through a narrow opening.

   It can be hard to thread a needle in poor light.

3. 3
   noun

   The connected line of ideas or events that runs through a story or conversation.

   I'm sorry, I've lost the thread of what you were saying.

From Middle English thred, þred, threed, from Old English þrǣd, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-s, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”). Cognates Cognate with Yola dreade (“thread”), Saterland Frisian Träid (“thread, wire”), Cimbrian draat (“string, thread”), Dutch draad (“thread, wire”), German Draht (“thread, wire”), Luxembourgish Drot (“wire”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish tråd (“thread, wire”), Faroese tráður (“thread”), Icelandic þráður (“thread”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian dredh (“twist, turn”). More at throw.

Topics