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Origin and history of thousand

thousand(num.)

"10 times one hundred; the number which is ten times one hundred; a symbol representing this number;" also often used for any uncountable or indefinite large number, Old English þusend, from Proto-Germanic *thusundi (source also of Old Frisian thusend, Dutch duizend, Old High German dusunt, German tausend, Old Norse þusund, Gothic þusundi).

This is reconstructed as *thus-hund-, from a PIE compound meaning "indefinite great number, great multitude" and etymologically "great hundred, swollen hundred." It is also attested in Balto-Slavic (Lithuanian tūkstantis, Old Prussian tusimton "a thousand;" Old Church Slavonic tysashta, Polish tysiąc, Russian tysiacha, Czech tisic).

Under this reconstruction the first element would be from PIE root *teue- "to swell," (as in thigh, thumb), the second element from PIE root *dekm- "ten" (as in the first element of hundred).

In English it was used to translate Greek khilias, Latin mille "a thousand," which would explain the later precise meaning. There is no evidence of a general Indo-European word for "thousand." Related: Thousandly; thousandfold.

The slang shortening thou is attested by 1867. Thousand island dressing (1916) presumably is named for the region of New York on the St. Lawrence River. Thousand yard stare "blank, unfocused gaze" is by 1943, originally military slang, said to be a condition developed by soldiers stationed for long periods on small islands.

Entries linking to thousand

hundred(adj., n.)

"1 more than ninety-nine, ten times ten; the number which is one more than ninety-nine; a symbol representing this number;" Old English hundred "the number of 100, a counting of 100," from Proto-Germanic *hunda-ratha- (source also of Old Frisian hundred, Old Saxon hunderod, Old Norse hundrað, German hundert); first element is Proto-Germanic *hundam "hundred" (cognate with Gothic hund, Old High German hunt), from PIE *km-tom "hundred," reduced from *dkm-tom- (source also of Sanskrit satam, Avestan satem, Greek hekaton, Latin centum, Lithuanian šimtas, Old Church Slavonic suto, Old Irish cet, Breton kant "hundred"), suffixed form of root *dekm- "ten."

The second element is Proto-Germanic *rath "reckoning, number" (as in Gothic raþjo "a reckoning, account, number," garaþjan "to count;" from PIE root *re- "to reason, count"). The common word for the number in Old English was simple hund, and Old English also used hund-teontig. Also compare duodecimal.

The meaning "division of a county or shire with its own court" (still in some British place names and U.S. state of Delaware) was in Old English and probably represents 100 hides of land. The Hundred Years War (which ran intermittently from 1337 to 1453) was first so called in 1874. The original Hundred Days was the period between Napoleon's restoration and his final abdication in 1815.

thigh(n.)

"upper part of the leg," from above the knee to the hip. Middle English thigh, from Old English þeoh (West Saxon), þeh (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *theuham (source also of Old Frisian thiach, Old Dutch thio, Dutch dij, Old Norse þjo, Old High German dioh), according to Watkins probably literally "the thick or fat part of the leg" (from PIE *teuk-, from root *teue- "to swell"). Thigh-bone "femur" is from mid-15c.