sb. and a. Forms: 1–3 þusend, 2–3 -ent, (Orm.) -ennd, 3 -and, -und, þousunt, 3–4 -end, 3–6 thousande, 4 thus(s)-, thos(s)and(e, 4–5 þous-, þows-, thous-, thows-, -and(e, -ant(e, -aund, -end, -ent, -ind(e, -ond(e, -ynd, 4–7 thowsand, 5 þou-, þow-, thouzand; 4– thousand (mod. Sc. thoozan(t). [OE. þúsend, sb. fem. and neut. = OFris. thûsend, OS. thûsundig, thûsind (Du. duizend), OHG. dûsunt (MHG. tûsent, G. tausend), Salfrank. þûschunde, ON. þúsuna (þúshund, þúshundrað, Sw. tusen, Da. tusind), Goth. þûsundi sb. fem. and neut. Generally held to be cognate with Lith. túkstanti-s, Lett. tûkstůts, OPruss. *tūsimta (acc. pl. tūsimtons), Oslav. тысашта, Russ. тысяча, Pol. tysiac, Czech tisíc, pointing to an orig. Slavo-Teut. *tūssontiā or tussntjā, whence also OTeut. *þūsundi. The first element is considered by many to be an Indo-Eur. *tūs meaning ‘multitude, force’; cf. Skr. tawas ‘strong, force’; as to the rest of the word etymologists differ.
The general result is that þûsundi was prob. an indefinite term for a ‘great multitude’ (cf. Gr. μυριάς, αδ-, in its indefinite, and myriad in its common English use), which was used as the available equivalent of Gr. χῖλιός and L. mille, themselves prob. originally indefinite words, there being no general Indo-Eur. word for ‘thousand.’]
1. The cardinal number equal to ten times one hundred: denoted by the symbols 1000 or M (for L. mille), formerly often by ⅿ, or m, as xxxm.
a. As sb. or quasi-sb., with plural. (a) In singular. Usually a thousand, emphatically or precisely one thousand.
971. Blickl. Hom., 119. Nis … næniʓ mon þe … wite … hwæþer þis þusend sceole beon scyrtre ofer þæt þe lengre.
c. 1000. Ælfric’s Vocab., in Wr.-Wülcker, 110/12. Ciliarcus, þusendes ealdor.
c. 1205. Lay., 21401. Bi þusund & bi þusend þer feollen [sc. Sexes] æuere in þene grund.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 7490. Men and wymmen, many a thousand.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIX. cxxiii. (1495). Ten hundryd makyth a thousande.
1583. Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., IV. 49. A thousande fiue hundred seuentie and nine.
1668. R. Steele, Husbandman’s Calling, x. (1672), 256. A thousand to one, they have … some gnawing care … that defeats their comfort.
Mod. Bricks are sold by the thousand.
(b) In plural thousands (OE. þúsendu, -o, -a, ME. -e, -es).
In Arith. often ellipt. for the digits denoting the number of thousands: cf. units, tens, hundreds.
Beowulf, 2196. He … him ʓesealde seofan þusendo.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., V. iv. § 2. Þider for mid moneʓum þusendum.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Josh. vii. 3. Ac twa þusenda oððe þreo læt faran.
a. 1120. O. E. Chron., an. 694 (Laud MS.). Cantwara … him ʓesealdon xxx þusenda.
c. 1205. Lay., 545. Þider in iwenden moni þusunde [c. 1275 mani þusend]. Ibid. (c. 1275), 465. Ich habbe … in þan mountes mani þusendes.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19134 (Edin.). Þare was conuertid thusandis [Gött. thousandes] v.
c. 1425. [see (c)].
1542. Recorde, Gr. Artes, 120. Then adde I ye thousandes together.
1615. Mure, Misc. P., xiv. 12. Metamorphos’d his thowsands in milleounes.
1771. Hist. Eur., in Ann. Reg., 24/2. They amounted in all to some thousands.
1877. H. Spencer, in Min. Evid. Copyright Comm. (1878), 258. Now I simply have to print additional thousands as they are demanded.
(c) After another numeral the singular is now commonly used as a collective plural. (Cf. dozen, hundred.)
But in OE. the plural form was usual: see (b).
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gram. (Z.), 282. Tweʓen ias, ʓetitelode ī ī, ʓetacniað twa þusend.
c. 1205. Lay., 83. Hire weoren … hund þousunt deade. Ibid., 465. Ich habbe in þane munten monie þusund [c. 1275 þusendes].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1789. Þe brutons sywede after,… & slowe mani þousend.
1382. Wyclif, Luke xiv. 31. If he may with ten thousynd go aȝens him that cometh to him with twenty thousynd.
c. 1425. Crafte Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.), 29. In þe 5 place [he schuld betoken] sexty þowsant…. In þe 8 place sexty þowsant thowsantes.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xviii. (1592), 288. For one that triumpheth, a hundred thousand are led in captiuitie.
Mod. How many followers has he? He claims to have fifty thousand. The hall will seat four thousand.
(d) As a sb. it takes after it of, representing the OE. genitive pl. Now after a numeral only as a unit of quantity by which things are sold.
(A thousand of, thousands of, are used partitively as in the case of other numerals.)
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. x. § 4. On an scip, mæʓe an þusend manna. Ibid., II. v. § 2. Hie acuron endlefan þusend monna.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 334. Ða ʓehyrde he … sang … maneʓa ðusenda engla.
c. 1050. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia (1885), VIII. 311. Eahta þusend tida.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 35. Moni þusent monne mahte libben fele ȝere mare þenne he do.
c. 1275. Shires & Hund., 58, in O. E. Misc., 146. xxvi. þusend hida.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 4078. Godes wreche ðor haueð of-slaȝen xx.iii. ðusent of daȝen.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., I. (1495), A iv/2. He fedde many thousandes of people wyth fewe looues of brede.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr. (Rolls), 540. Many hundrid thousind of soulis.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. xi. 78. What shal I ȝeue þe for all þese þousand of godes?
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 327. Ane thousand and ma of fensabill men.
1596–7. in Ducarel, Hist. Croydon, App. (1783), 153. Four loads of flinte … will well save one thousand of bricke.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Lives Emperors, in Hist. Iustine, Ii j. The King of Persia with his wife Cæsarea and many thousand of their followers.
1663. Gerbier, Counsel, 52. Twenty Thousand of Bricks.
1671. S. Clarke (title), A Mirrour, or Looking-Glass, both for Saints and Sinners, held forth in some Thousands of Examples.
1748. in Waghorn, Cricket Scores (1899), 41. Some thousands of pounds were depending on this match.
1880. C. R. Markham, Peruv. Bark, 51. Thousands of arrobas were … obtained.
b. As adj. or quasi-adj., followed immediately by a plural (or collective) noun.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 458. Iob … wæron eft forʓoldene … þusend ʓetyme oxena and þusend assan.
a. 1123. O. E. Chron., an. 1101. Rotbert … sceolde … þreo þusend marc seolfres habban.
c. 1200. Vices & Virt., 115. Mani þusend hali saules.
c. 1200. Ormin, 15510. He fedde fif þusende menn Wiþþ fife barrliȝ lafess.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 8/243. More þane a þousend ȝer.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 465. Þis þousinde wynter & more.
1489. Wriothesley, Chron. (Camden), I. 2. Manye knightes with seaven thowsand men.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. 672. He brought over the mountaynes a xxx. thousande fyghtinge men.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 66 b. Him … that was once worthe three thousande pounde, and is not nowe worthe three grotes.
1650. Baxter, Saints’ R., II. vii. (1654), 269. So many thousand Christians so barbarously murdered.
1891. Kipling, Light that Failed, xiv. (1900), 263. You’ve lost about a thousand pounds’ worth of sketches.
2. Often used vaguely or hyperbolically for a large number: cf. hundred.
So ten thousand, thousands, thousands of thousands.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), iii. 5. Ic me nu na ondræde þusendu folces.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 10090. Þe sunn o rightwisnes,… Hir mad a thusand sith sa bright.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1. A Thousent sythis haue I herd men telle That there is loye in heuene.
1549. Coverdale, Erasm. Par. Epist., Ded. 2. What vayne pylgremages, what offerynges and lyghtes to stockes and stones,… with thousandes moe inconueniences.
1638. R. Baker, trans. Balzac’s Lett. (vol. III.), 37. I give you a thousand thanks.
1700. T. Brown, Fresny’s Amusem., v. 49. Some of them [sc. ladies] having Scab’d, or Pimpled Faces, wear a Thousand Patches to hide them.
1713. Young, Last Day, III. 159. Ten thousand thousand fathoms still remain.
1779. Mirror, No. 67, ¶ 11. You may do good to thousands.
1786. trans. Beckford’s Vathek, 157. A thousand ridiculous stories were propagated, at his expence.
1821. Byron, Juan, III. lxxxvi. Isles of Greece, iv. And ships, by thousands, lay below, And men in nations;—all were his!
1842. Dumfries Herald, Oct. Clean them from the worms of the thousand-and-one flies that feed on them.
1880. W. S. Gilbert, Pirates of Penzance, I. You will find me a wife of a thousand.
a. 1895. in Baring-Gould, Nursery Songs & Rhymes, vii. 17. Ten thousand parks where deer run, Ten thousand roses in the sun.
3. Elliptical uses. a. A thousand of some weight, measure, or quantity; e.g., acres, pounds, cubic feet, years, pieces, packages, etc., according to the nature of the commodity, etc.
a. 900. O. E. Chron., an. 648 (Parker MS.). Her Cenwalh ʓesalde Cuþrede his mæʓe iii þusendo londes be Æsces dune.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxviii[i]. 72. Me is micle betere,… þonne mon me ʓeofe ʓeara ðusende goldes and seolfres.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter ibid. Ouer thousandes ofe siluer ore golde.
1443. Acts Privy Counc. (1835), V. 281. To delivere Johan Dawnsonn maister of þordenances of my Lorde of Somerset iiijml salpetre iijml sulphure.
1482. in Charters, &c. Edinb. (1871), 169. Of the thousand irne ij s.
1840. Thackeray, Cox’s Diary, May. Instead of looking twenty, he looked a thousand.
1884. Sat. Rev., 7 June, 758/1. He dines at 6, plays [billiards] a thousand-up by gaslight.
1901. Daily Express, 28 Feb., 4/6. The price of gas in London in 1876 was 3s. 9d. per thousand.
b. A thousand pounds sterling.
1547–64. Bauldwin, Mor. Philos. (Palfr.), 65. A merchant’s compters, that is to day worth thousands.
1588. Marprel. Epist. (Arb.), 5. Come downe you bishopps from your thousands, and content you with your hundreds.
1609. B. Jonson, Sil. Wom., IV. v. A man of two thousand a yeere.
1826. Disraeli, Viv. Grey, II. xiii. A clear rental of five-and-twenty thousand per annum.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, I. ix. A merchant on ’Change,… having lost his thousands, embarks a few guineas upon the next ship.
† 4. As ordinal: = THOUSANDTH. Obs.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xvi. 74. He knew noȝt þe thowsand parte of his gude.
14[?]. Tundale’s Vis., 1923 (Edinb. MS.). Not by an hyndryþe þowsand part.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., IV. i. 46. Breake but a part of the thousand part of a minute in the affairs of loue.
1680. N. Lee, Cæsar Borgia, Ep. Ded. My best Merits are not the ten thousand part of his smallest labours.
5. Comb. Forming (a) attrib. compounds with a sb., as thousand-acre, -dollar, -guinea, -mile, -pound, -round, -year (hence -year-long, -year-old, etc.); (b) parasynthetic combs., as thousand-eyed (having a thousand eyes), -footed, -handed, -headed, -hued, -sided, -souled, -voiced, etc. adjs.; also thousand-feet, -legs, a millepede or centipede; thousand-yearist, nonce-rendering of CHILIAST.
1895. Daily News, 30 Nov., 3/4. The attempt to turn England into a rural arcadia of *thousand acre farms.
1871. Alabaster, Wheel of Law, 171. There the *thousand-eyed Lord … is attended by thousands of houris. Ibid., 209. The thousand-eyed is a common epithet of Indra.
1704. in Churchill, Collect. Voy., III. 828/2. *Thousand Feet, called Millepie by the Portugueses.
1858. O. W. Holmes, Aut. Breakf.-t., vii. To take shelter … under one of the *thousand-footed bridges.
1894. Du Maurier, Trilby, II. 111. Princes … who pay them *thousand-guinea fees.
1870. Emerson, Soc. & Solit., vii. 133. This *thousand-handed art.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Miracle of Peace, xxiv. Thou *thousand-headed head-lesse Monster-most.
1839. Bailey, Festus, xxxi. (1852), 490. Fluttering its wings in lightnings *thousand-hued.
1807. Young, Agric. Essex, I. 392. The *thousand legs eats and makes them [potatoes] scabby.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 17 June, 5/1. A *thousand-pound projectile … tore a gaping hole in the emplacement.
1902. Lond. Mag., June, 484/1. Accused of systematically uttering forged Bank of England thousand-pound notes.
1704. Norris, Ideal World, II. ix. 387. Four, five, or a *thousand-sided figures … are capable of a greater number of relations … than simple triangles are.
1838–9. Hallam, Hist. Lit., III. III. vi. § 49. 313. Coleridge has most felicitously applied to him a Greek epithet … μυριόνους, the *thousand-souled Shakspeare.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 2 Sept., 5/1. Amidst the *thousand-voiced tumult.
1886. Kipling, Departm. Ditties, etc. (1899), 45. So I fled with steps uncertain On a *thousand-year long race.
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, 798. The worde [Chiliasts] is greeke, and may bee interpreted, Millenaryes, or *Thousand-yere-ists.
Hence Thousandaire (nonce-wd. after millionaire), one who has a thousand pounds; † Thousandly adv., thousandfold.
1896. Eclectic Mag., March, 350. To prevent their possessor from ever becoming even a thousandaire.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 4920. Now shalle I the rewarde innoumbrable thovzandly.
