thin
English
Etymology
From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”).
Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θɪn/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "th-fronting" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /fɪn/
Audio (US): (file) Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ɪn
- Homophone: fin Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "with th-fronting" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.
Adjective
thin (comparative thinner, superlative thinnest)
- Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
- thin plate of metal; thin paper; thin board; thin covering
- 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
- Out of spite, the human beings pretended not to believe that it was Snowball who had destroyed the windmill: they said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin.
- Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
- thin wire; thin string
- Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
- thin person
- Of low viscosity or low specific gravity.
- Water is thinner than honey.
- Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.
- The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.
- 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.
- (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
- Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
- a thin, tight-lipped smile
- 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
- thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams
- Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
- a thin disguise
- (aviation) Of a route: relatively little used.
- 2016, Hartmut Wolf, Peter Forsyth, David Gillen, Liberalization in Aviation, page 105:
- In short, we previously found that thin routes benefit from an increase in competition in the Spanish airline market when considering routes that were monopoly routes in 2001.
- Poor; scanty; without money or success.
- 1945, Jack Henry, What Price Crime?, page 92:
- Like their friends the "draggers," the "hoisters" or shoplifters are having a thin time these days, […]
Synonyms
- (having little thickness from one surface to its opposite): narrow; see also Thesaurus:narrow
- (very narrow in all diameters): fine
- (having little body fat or flesh): reedy, skinny, slender, slim, svelte, waifish; see also Thesaurus:slender or Thesaurus:scrawny
- (of low viscosity): runny, watery; see also Thesaurus:runny
- (not close or crowded): spaced out, sparse; see also Thesaurus:diffuse
- (not numerous): scant, scarce, slight
Antonyms
Derived terms
- gossamer-thin
- have a thin time of it
- into thin air
- on thin ice
- out of thin air
- paper-thin
- pencil-thin
- razor-thin
- razor thin
- run thin
- skate on thin ice
- spread oneself thin
- spread oneself too thin
- stick-thin
- thick and thin
- thick-and-thin block
- thin air
- thin as a barber's cat
- thin as a rail
- thin as a rake
- thin as a wafer
- thin as a yard of pump water
- thin blue line
- thin client
- thin computing
- thin content
- thin-crust pizza
- thin edge of the wedge
- thin end of the wedge
- thin film
- thin-film
- thin layer chromatography
- thin-layer chromatography
- thinly
- thin on the ground
- thin paper
- thin sandwich degree
- thin section
- thin skin
- thin-skinned
- thin-skinnedness
- thin skull rule
- thin slice
- thin-slice
- thin-slicing
- thin space
- thin the herd
- thin trading
- wafer-thin
- wear thin
Related terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Noun
thin (plural thins)
- (philately) A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
- Any food produced or served in thin slices.
- chocolate mint thins
- potato thins
- wheat thins
Translations
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Verb
thin (third-person singular simple present thins, present participle thinning, simple past and past participle thinned)
- (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
- 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:
- Exhausted fathers thinned the blood,
You curse the legacy of pain;
Darling of an infected brood,
You feel disaster climb the vein.
- (intransitive) To become thin or thinner.
- The crowds thinned after the procession had passed: there was nothing more to see.
- To dilute.
- To remove some plants or parts of plants in order to improve the growth of what remains.
- 2015 September 5, Mark Diacono, “In praise of the Asian pear”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)[1], archived from the original on 12 September 2015, page 3:
- So floriferous are Asian pears, and the tree so laden with young fruit, that as the tree approaches maturity it is worth considering thinning the fruit (I can't quite bring myself to thin the flowers) so as to neither overburden the tree for this year nor tire it for the next. Thinning early in the season, while the fruit is small, is ideal.
Derived terms
Translations
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Adverb
thin (comparative more thin, superlative most thin)
- Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
- seed sown thin
- a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:
- Spain is a nation thin sown of people.
Further reading
- “thin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “thin”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “thin”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Middle English
Etymology 1
Determiner
thin (subjective pronoun þou)
- Alternative form of þin (“thy”)
Pronoun
thin (subjective þou)
- Alternative form of þin (“thine”)
Etymology 2
Adjective
thin
- Alternative form of thinne (“thin”)
Old Dutch
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *þīn.
Determiner
thīn
Inflection
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | thīn | thīn | thīn |
Accusative | thīnin | thīna | thīn |
Genitive | thīnis | thīnro | thīnis |
Dative | thīnin | thīnro | thīnin |
Instrumental | thīnin | thīnro | thīnin |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
Nominative | thīna | thīna | thīna |
Accusative | thīna | thīna | thīna |
Genitive | thīnro | thīnro | thīnro |
Dative | thīnon | thīnon | thīnon |
Instrumental | thīn- | thīn- | thīn- |
Descendants
Further reading
- “thīn”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
Old High German
Pronunciation
Determiner
thīn
- Alternative form of din
References
- Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer, Second Edition
Old Saxon
Etymology 1
From Proto-West Germanic *þīn.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θiːn/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "late Old Saxon" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): [ðiːn]
Determiner
thīn
Declension
gender | masculine | neuter | feminine | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
case | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural |
nominative | thīn | thīna, thīne | thīn | thīn | thīn | thīn, thīne, thīna |
accusative | thīnne, thīnan, thīnen, thīnon, thīnna | thīna, thīne | thīn | thīne, thīna | thīna, thīne | thīna |
genitive | thīnes, thīnumu | thīnaro, thīnero | thīnes | thīnaro, thīnero, thīnoro | thīnaro, thīnera, thīnoro, thīnaro, thīnere | thīnaro, thīnero, thīnoro |
dative | thīnum, thīnun, thīnon, thīnumu, thīnū, thīnemo | thīnun, thīnon, thīna | thīnum, thīnun, thīnon, thīnumu, thīnemo | thīnun, thīnon | thīnero, thīnaro, thīnera, thīnoro, thīnaru, thīneru, thīnera | thīnun, thīnon, thīnum |
See also
Personal pronouns | |||||
Singular | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
Nominative | ik | thū | hē | siu | it |
Accusative | mī, me, mik | thī, thik | ina | sia | |
Dative | mī | thī | imu | iru | it |
Genitive | mīn | thīn | is | ira | is |
Dual | 1. | 2. | - | - | - |
Nominative | wit | git | - | - | - |
Accusative | unk | ink | - | - | - |
Dative | |||||
Genitive | unkero, unka | - | - | - | |
Plural | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
Nominative | wī, we | gī, ge | sia | sia | siu |
Accusative | ūs, unsik | eu, iu, iuu | |||
Dative | ūs | im | |||
Genitive | ūser | euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera | iro |
References
- Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)
- Altsächsisches Elementarbuch by Dr. F. Holthausen
Etymology 2
See here.
Determiner
thin
Welsh
Noun
thin
- Aspirate mutation of tin.
Mutation
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪn
- Rhymes:English/ɪn/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Golf
- en:Aviation
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Philately
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English adverbs
- en:Size
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English determiners
- Middle English pronouns
- Middle English adjectives
- Old Dutch terms derived from Frankish
- Old Dutch terms inherited from Frankish
- Old Dutch terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Dutch terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Dutch terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Dutch terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Dutch lemmas
- Old Dutch determiners
- Old Dutch possessive determiners
- Old High German terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old High German lemmas
- Old High German determiners
- Old High German possessive determiners
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old Saxon terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Old Saxon terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old Saxon lemmas
- Old Saxon determiners
- Old Saxon possessive determiners
- Old Saxon non-lemma forms
- Old Saxon determiner forms
- Welsh non-lemma forms
- Welsh mutated nouns
- Welsh aspirate-mutation forms