thin
See also: Thìn, þin, þín, thiⁿ, and thîn
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, Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθɪn/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɪn
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
- 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 7, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:
- 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 1051505315:
- 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.
- 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], OCLC 1154883115, (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.
- 2016, Hartmut Wolf, Peter Forsyth, David Gillen, Liberalization in Aviation (page 105)
- 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, […]
- 1945, Jack Henry, What Price Crime? (page 92)
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
- thick
Derived terms
- into thin air
- paper-thin
- pencil-thin
- razor-thin
- thick and thin
- thin air
- thin as a rake
- thin-skinned
- wear thin
Translations
having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite
|
very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions
|
having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt
|
of low viscosity or low specific gravity
|
scarce
|
golf: of a poorly played golf shot
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked: "slim, narrow in size"
|
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
loss of material
|
food served in thin slices
|
Verb
thin (third-person singular simple present thins, present participle thinning, simple past and past participle thinned)
- (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
- (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), 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
- thin out
Translations
to make thinner
|
to become thinner
|
to dilute
|
to remove plants
|
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 557721855:
- Spain is a nation thin sown of people.
Further reading
- thin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- thin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- thin at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Nith, hint
Middle English
Determiner
thin (subjective pronoun þou)
- Alternative form of þin (“thy”)
Pronoun
thin (subjective þou)
- Alternative form of þin (“thine”)
Adjective
thin
- Alternative form of thinne (“thin”)
Old Dutch
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *þīn.
Determiner
thīn
- thy, your (singular)
- thine, yours
Inflection
Declension of thin — Strong only
| 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
- Middle Dutch: dijn
- Dutch: dijn
- Limburgish: dien
Further reading
- “thīn”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
Old High German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ðiːn/
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/
- (late Old Saxon) IPA(key): [ðiːn]
Determiner
thīn
- thy, your (singular)
- thine, yours
Declension
Declension of thīn (strong only)
| 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
Old Saxon personal pronouns
| 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 | inker, inka | - | - | - |
| 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, (5. Auflage) 2014
- Altsächsisches Elementarbuch by Dr. F. Holthausen
Etymology 2
See here.
Determiner
thin
- instrumental singular masculine/neuter of thē
Welsh
Noun
thin
- Aspirate mutation of tin.
Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
| tin | din | nhin | thin |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||