Where does “thou” come from?

Thou comes from Middle English thou, from Middle English yow, from Proto-Germanic sa, from Proto-Indo-European só, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European túh₂.

thou (English): Nominative singular of ye; To address using the...

Definitions

  1. Nominative singular of ye; To address using the...

Ancestry of “thou”, step by step

thou traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English thousand

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishthousandA numerical value equal to 1,000 = 10 × 100 = 10
2Middle EnglishthousendA thousand; 1000
3Old Englishþūsendthousand
4Proto-West Germanicþūsundithousand
5Proto-Germanicþūsundīa thousand
6Proto-Indo-EuropeantuHsont-thousand
7Proto-Indo-Europeantewh₂-to swell; to crowd; to be strong

via Middle English þou

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishþouthou second-person singular pronoun; you
2Old Englishþūyou, thou (nominative singular)
3Proto-West Germanicþūyou
4Proto-Germanic*þū—
5Proto-Indo-Europeantúh₂you, thou

Words derived from “thou”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European tewh₂- →