Sage-Tips

What is the biblical meaning of thou?

you
Anyone familiar with the Bible knows the word thou means “you.” As the word worked its way from Old English, it varied a little in its subtext, from a plural referring to higher-ups, then to equals, and, around 1450, as a slightly insulting reference suggesting inferiority.

Why does thou mean?

pronoun. Thou is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for ‘you’ when you are talking to only one person. It is used as the subject of a verb.

When did Middle English start?

‘Middle English’ – a period of roughly 300 years from around 1150 CE to around 1450 – is difficult to identify because it is a time of transition between two eras that each have stronger definition: Old English and Modern English.

When did the use of the word thou decline in English?

For example, parents called their children thou, and children called their parents you, but then the use of thou sharply decreased in the seventeenth century, starting in London.

What is the origin of the word ‘thou’?

In a book called The Personal Pronouns in the Germanic Languages, Stephen Howe says that in the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries, thou was generally used to address someone who was socially inferior or an intimate. For example, parents called their children thou, and children called their parents you,…

Is the word “thou” still used in modern times?

For the most part, at least in normal linguistic use, thou has been largely supplanted in modern times by you, although it does exist still in certain dialects in Northern England and Scotland, as well as in the community of the Religious Society of Friends (commonly referred to as Quakers). This is where the violence comes into our story.

What is the difference between thee And thou?

Thee and Thou Were English’s Informal Pronouns. In a book called The Personal Pronouns in the Germanic Languages, Stephen Howe says that in the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries, thou was generally used to address someone who was socially inferior or an intimate. For example, parents called their children thou,…