See Also: I-Thou(dictionary)
thou(1)(dictionary)
thou(2)(dictionary)
thou(dictionary)
holier-than-thou(dictionary)
thou 1, number(dictionary)
thou 2, pronoun(dictionary)

thou(2) (iou)



thou pers. pronoun, 2 sing. subjective (nom.), & noun2.
[Old English Tu = Old Frisian thu, Old Saxon Tu (Low German du), Old & mod. High German du, Old Norse Tu, Gothic Tu, from Germanic from Indo-European base repr. also by Latin, Old Irish, Avestan tu, Greek (Doric) tu, (Attic) su, etc. Cf. THEE pronoun & noun, THINE.]
A. pronoun.
Used by the speaker or writer to refer to the person he or she is addressing, as the subject of predication or in attributive or predicative agreement with that subject: you. Also with verb in 3rd person sing. OE.
Bible (AV): Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer. Tennyson ThouLancelot!thine the hand That threw me? T. Hardy O Lord, be thou my helper!
As interjection in apposition to and preceding a noun: expr. esp. reproach or contempt. OE.
Shakespeare Tempest Thou liest, thou jesting monkey.
b. noun.
The pronoun 'thou' as a word. Freq. in thees and thous. LME.
S. Woods She now used the familiar 'thou' only when it suited her.
A self; a person identical with the person addressed by the speaker or writer. L17.
? From Middle English thee and thou came to be regarded as familiar or (esp. in liturgical use) formal modes of address, being gradually supplanted in general use by ye and (now the current usage) you; thy, thyself, and thine were similarly supplanted by your, yourself, and your(s).