thread

See also: Thread

English

Alternative forms

thred (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English thred, þred, threed, from Old English þrǣd, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-s, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Träid (“thread, wire”), West Frisian tried, Dutch draad, German Draht, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish tråd, and Icelandic þráður. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian dredh (“twist, turn”). More at throw.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /θɹɛd/
- (UK, US) IPA^(key): [θɾ̪̊ɛd]
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛd
Hyphenation: thread

Noun

thread (plural threads)

A long, thin and flexible form of material, generally with a round cross-section, used in sewing, weaving or in the construction of string.
- 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
  He walked. To the corner of Hamilton Place and Picadilly, and there stayed for a while, for it is a romantic station by night. The vague and careless rain looked like threads of gossamer silver passing across the light of the arc-lamps.
A continued theme or idea.
Synonym: topic
All of these essays have a common thread.
I’ve lost the thread of what you’re saying.
(engineering) A screw thread.
A sequence of connections.
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter XVIII:
  I was pondering these things, when an incident, and a somewhat unexpected one, broke the thread of my musings.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Chapter 21:
  ‘Let him go on. Do not interrupt him. He cannot go back, and maybe could not proceed at all if once he lost the thread of his thought.’
The line midway between the banks of a stream.
(computing) A unit of execution, lighter in weight than a process, usually sharing memory and other resources with other threads executing concurrently.
(Internet) A series of messages, generally grouped by subject, in which all messages except the first are replies to previous messages in the thread.
A filament, as of a flower, or of any fibrous substance, as of bark.
(figurative) Composition; quality; fineness.
- 1632 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “The Magnetick Lady: Or, Humors Reconcil’d. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, OCLC 51546498:
  A neat courtier, / Of a most elegant thread.

Hyponyms

quadruple thread
screw thread

Derived terms

hang by a thread
hyperthreaded
nun's thread
sister's thread
threadbare
thread count
threader
thread necromancy
thread pool
threadsafe
thready

Translations

long, thin and flexible form of material

Afrikaans: draad
Albanian: fill (sq) m, pe (sq) m
Arabic: خَيْط‎ (ar) m (ḵayṭ)
Egyptian Arabic: خيط‎ m (ḵēṭ)
Armenian: թել (hy) (tʿel)
Aromanian: hir
Assamese: সূতা (xuta)
Asturian: filu m
Azerbaijani: sap (az), ip (az)
Bashkir: еп (yep)
Belarusian: ні́тка f (nítka)
Bengali: সূত্র (sūtrô)
Bhojpuri: 𑂞𑂰𑂏𑂰 (tāgā), 𑂙𑂷𑂩𑂰 (ḍorā)
Bikol Central: tursido
Bulgarian: ни́шка (bg) f (níška), коне́ц (bg) m (konéc)
Burmese: အမျှင် (my) (a.hmyang), အပ်ချည် (my) (aphkyany), ချည် (my) (hkyany)
Cahuilla: 'iilu
Catalan: fil (ca) m
Central Dusun: banang
Chamicuro: kishemolo
Chechen: тай (taj)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 線, 线 (sin³)
Mandarin: 線／线 (zh) (xiàn)
Chuvash: ҫип (śip)
Czech: nit (cs) f, vlákno (cs) n
Dalmatian: fil m
Danish: tråd (da) c
Dutch: draad (nl) m, garen (nl) n
Eastern Mari: шӱртӧ (šürtö)
Erzya: суре (sure)
Esperanto: fadeno (eo)
Estonian: lõng (et), niit (et)
Even: томкача (tomkaca)
Evenki: томко (tomko)
Faroese: tráður m
Finnish: lanka (fi), rihma (fi), kuitu (fi), säie (fi)
French: fil (fr) m
Friulian: fîl m
Galician: fío (gl) m, fiaño m, liña (gl) f
Georgian: ძაფი (ʒapi)
German: Faden (de) m, Garn (de) n, Zwirn (de) m, Nähgarn (de) n, Strang (de) m
Greek: νήμα (el) n (níma), κλωστή (el) f (klostí)
Ancient: νῆμα n (nêma), μίτος m (mítos)
Hebrew: חוּט‎ (he) (khut)
Hindi: धागा (hi) m (dhāgā), सूत (hi) m (sūt), सूत्र (hi) m (sūtra), तंत (hi) m (tant), तन्तु (hi) m (tantu), डोरा (hi) m (ḍorā), तागा (hi) m (tāgā), ताँत (hi) f (tā̃t)
Hungarian: cérna (hu)
Icelandic: þráður (is) m
Indonesian: benang (id)
Ingush: тай (taj)
Irish: snáth m (collective), snáithe m (singulative)
Italian: filo (it) m, refe (it) m
Japanese: 糸 (ja) (いと, ito)
Jarai: mrai
Kapampangan: sinulad
Kazakh: жіп (jıp)
Khmer: ចេស (km) (ceeh), តង្ករ (km) (tɑngkɑɑ), អំបោះ (km) (ʼɑmbɑh)
Korean: 실 (ko) (sil)
Kunigami: 糸 (hichū)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دەزوو‎ (ku) (dezû), داو‎ (ku) (daw)
Northern Kurdish: dezî (ku) m, dav (ku) f
Kyrgyz: жип (ky) (jip)
Lao: ດ້າຽ (dāi), ດ້າຍ (dāi), ເຊືອກ (sư̄ak)
Latgalian: dīgs
Latin: fīlum
Latvian: diegs m
Limbu: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: siūlas (lt) m
Livonian: lānga
Macedonian: нишка f (niška), конец m (konec)
Magahi: 𑂞𑂰𑂏𑂰 (tāgā)
Maithili: ताग (tāg), डोर (ḍōr)
Malay: benang (ms)
Malayalam: നൂല് (nūlŭ)
Maltese: ħajt m
Manchu: ᡨᠣᠩᡤᠣ (tonggo)
Mongolian: утас (mn) (utas)
Norwegian: tråd (no) m
Occitan: fil (oc) m
Old English: þrǣd
Ottoman Turkish: ایپلك‎ (iplik)
Pashto: نخ‎ (ps) m (nax)
Persian: نخ‎ (fa) (nax), رشته‎ (fa) (rešte)
Plautdietsch: Drot m
Polish: nić (pl) f, nitka (pl) f
Portuguese: fio (pt) m, linha (pt) f, barbante (pt) m
Quechua: q'aytu
Romanian: ață (ro) f, tort (ro) m or f, fir (ro) m or f
Russian: нить (ru) f (nitʹ), ни́тка (ru) f (nítka)
Sanskrit: तन्तु (sa) m (tántu), अंशु (sa) m (aṃśu)
Scottish Gaelic: stìom f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: нит f
Roman: nit (sh) f
Sichuan Yi: ꑟ (xi)
Sinhalese: නූල් (nūl)
Slovak: niť f, nitka f, vlákno n
Slovene: nit (sl) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: niś f
Upper Sorbian: nić f
Spanish: hilo (es) m, hebra (es) f, hilaza f
Sudovian: shūta
Swedish: tråd (sv)
Tagalog: fil (tl)
Tajik: ришта (tg) (rišta), нах (nax)
Tatar: җеп (tt) (cep)
Telugu: దారము (te) (dāramu)
Thai: ด้าย (th) (dâai), เชือก (th) (chʉ̂ʉak), ใย (th) (yai)
Tibetan: སྐུད་པ (skud pa)
Tigrinya: ፈትሊ (fätli)
Tocharian B: ñare
Turkish: tire (tr), iplik (tr)
Turkmen: ýüp
Udmurt: нюжа (njuža)
Ukrainian: ни́тка (uk) f (nýtka)
Urdu: دھاگا‎ m (dhāgā)
Uyghur: يىپ‎ (yip)
Uzbek: ip (uz)
Vietnamese: chỉ (vi)
Võro: niit'
Welsh: edau f, edefyn m
Yakut: сап (sap)
Yiddish: פֿאָדעם‎ m (fodem)

a theme or idea — See also translations at common thread

Bulgarian: те́ма (bg) f (téma), ни́шка (bg) f (níška)
Catalan: fil conductor m, fil roig m
Dutch: onderwerp (nl) n, rode draad m
Finnish: juoni (fi)
French: fil (fr) m
German: Thema (de) n, roter Faden (de) m, Faden (de) m
Greek: θέμα (el) n (théma)
Hungarian: fonál (hu), vezérfonal (hu), motívum (hu), téma (hu)
Irish: snáithe m
Italian: filo (it) m, filo conduttore m
Malay: aliran (ms), urutan
Occitan: fil (oc)
Polish: wątek (pl) m
Portuguese: fio da meada (pt) m
Russian: те́ма (ru) f (téma), нить (ru) f (nitʹ), мысль (ru) f (myslʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: nit (sh) f
Slovene: nit (sl) f
Spanish: tema (es) m, argumento (es) m
Swedish: tråd (sv) c, tema (sv) n

a screw thread — see screw thread

a sequence of connection

Finnish: ketju (fi), säie (fi)
French: fil (fr) m
German: Gedankenfluss m, Gedankenstrom m, Zusammenhang (de) m, Strom (de) m, Fluß (de) m
Hungarian: fonál (hu), összefüggés (hu)
Irish: snáithe m
Russian: нить (ru) f (nitʹ), связь (ru) f (svjazʹ)
Spanish: hilazón m

the line midway between the banks of a stream

(computing): a unit of execution

Bulgarian: ни́шка (bg) f (níška)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 分身 (zh) (fēnshēn), 線／线 (zh) (xiàn), 線程／线程 (xiànchéng)
Czech: vlákno (cs) n
Dutch: thread (nl)
Finnish: säie (fi)
French: processus léger (fr), exétron (fr) m
German: Thread (de) m
Hebrew: תהליכון‎ m (tahalikhón), תת-תהליך‎ m (tat-tahalíkh), חוּט‎ (he) m (ḥut)
Japanese: スレッド (ja) (sureddo), ライトウェイトプロセス (raito-purosesu)
Malay: bebenang (ms)
Polish: wątek (pl) m
Portuguese: thread (pt) m
Russian: пото́к (ru) m (potók), тред (ru) m (trɛd)
Serbo-Croatian: nit (sh) f, dretva (sh) f
Spanish: subproceso m, proceso ligero m
Swedish: tråd (sv) c

(Internet): a series of messages

Arabic: مَوْضُوع‎ (ar) m (mawḍūʿ)
Bulgarian: те́ма (bg) f (téma)
Catalan: fil (ca) m, tema (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 主題／主题 (zh) (zhǔtí), 論題／论题 (zh) (lùntí), 話題／话题 (zh) (huàtí)
Czech: vlákno (cs) n
Dutch: topic (nl) f, onderwerp (nl) f, draad (nl)
Finnish: viestiketju (fi), ketju (fi), lanka (fi)
French: fil (fr) m, fil de discussion (fr) m
German: Diskussionsfaden m, Diskussionsstrang m, Thread (de) m
Greek: νήμα (el) n (níma)
Hebrew: שִׁרְשׁוּר‎ (he) m (shirshur)
Hungarian: szál (hu), téma (hu)
Icelandic: þráður (is) m, spjallþráður m
Irish: snáithe m
Italian: forum (it) m
Japanese: スレッド (ja) (sureddo), スレ (ja) (sure)
Malay: bebenang (ms), jaluran, rajutan (of Twitter)
Polish: wątek (pl) m, temat (pl) m
Portuguese: tópico (pt) m
Russian: ве́тка (ru) f (vétka), те́ма (ru) f (téma), диску́ссия (ru) f (diskússija), тред (ru) m (trɛd), то́пик (ru) m (tópik)
Serbo-Croatian: nit (sh) f
Slovak: vlákno n
Spanish: hilo (es) m, tema (es) m, tópico (es) m
Swedish: tråd (sv) c
Thai: กระทู้ (th) (grà-túu)
Vietnamese: thớt (vi)

Verb

thread (third-person singular simple present threads, present participle threading, simple past threaded or (archaic) thrid, past participle threaded or (archaic) thridden)

(transitive) To put thread through.
thread a needle
(transitive) To pass (through a narrow constriction or around a series of obstacles).
I think I can thread my way through here, but it’s going to be tight.
- 1961 February, D. Bertram, “The lines to Wetherby and their traffic”, in Trains Illustrated, page 101:
  On the descent the line is often in cuttings; some are high, such as at Scarcroft, where a cut through firestone and fireclay was necessary, and near Bardsey, where the line threads a deep tree-lined gorge.
- 2013, Ben Smith, "", BBC Sport, 19 October 2013:
  Picking the ball up in his own half, Januzaj threaded a 40-yard pass into the path of Rooney to slice Southampton open in the blink of an eye.
To screw on; to fit the threads of a nut on a bolt.
(transitive) To remove the hair using a thread.
How to thread your eyebrows and trim them

Derived terms

threaded (adjective)
multithreaded

Translations

put thread through

Azerbaijani: saplamaq (az)
Bulgarian: вдя́вам (bg) (vdjávam), вдя́на (vdjána), прому́швам (bg) (promúšvam), прому́ша (promúša)
Catalan: enfilar (ca)
Cherokee: ᎦᏌᏁᏅᏛᎥᏍᎦ (gasanenvdvvsga)
Dutch: bedraden, vessemen (nl)
Finnish: pujottaa (fi)
Galician: enfiar
German: einfädeln (de)
Icelandic: þræða
Irish: snáithe a chur
Maori: tautau, kauī, tui
Portuguese: fiar (pt), enfiar (pt)
Spanish: enhebrar (es), enjaretar (es), enhilar (es), ensartar (es)
Swedish: trä (sv), träda (sv)
Thai: ร้อย (th) (rɔ́ɔi)
Vietnamese: xỏ (vi), xâu (vi)

to pass

Bulgarian: прому́швам (bg) (promúšvam), прому́ша (promúša), промъ́квам (promǎ́kvam), промъ́кна (promǎ́kna)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 穿梭 (zh) (chuānsuō)
Dutch: passeren voorbij gaan
Finnish: pujotella (fi)
French: filer (fr)
German: passieren (de), durchkommen (de), durchfädeln, bahnen (de)
Portuguese: enfiar (pt)
Spanish: pasar (es)
Swedish: träda (sv), passera (sv)

to screw on

Finnish: pujottaa (fi)
German: aufschrauben, gewindeschneiden
Irish: snáithe a chur
Spanish: enroscar (es)
Swedish: gänga (sv), trä (sv), träda (sv)

to remove hair

Turkish: iple almak

References

thread on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

Dehart, dareth, dearth, hatred, hetdar

French

Etymology

From English thread.

Pronunciation

(Canada) IPA^(key): /tʁɛd/
(France) IPA^(key): /sʁɛd/

Noun

thread m (plural threads)

(anglicism, computing) thread
(anglicism, Internet) thread

Synonyms

(computing) fil d'exécution, processus léger
(Internet)fil de discussion, fil d'intérêt

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English thread.

Noun

thread m (invariable)

(Internet) thread (series of messages)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English thread.

Noun

thread f (plural threads)

(computing) thread (one of several units of execution running concurrently)