Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Thin

Thin

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Thiner
;
sup
erl.
Thinest
.]
[OE.
thinne
,
thenne
,
thunne
, AS.
þynne
; akin to D.
dun
, G.
dünn
, OHG.
dunni
, Icel.
þunnr
, Sw.
tunn
, Dan.
tynd
, Gael. & Ir.
tana
, W.
teneu
, L.
tenuis
, Gr. [GREEK] (in comp.) stretched out, [GREEK] stretched, stretched out, long, Skr.
tanu
thin, slender; also to AS.
[GREEK]enian
to extend, G.
dehnen
, Icel.
[GREEK]enja
, Goth.
[GREEK]anjan
(in comp.), L.
tendere
to stretch,
tenere
to hold, Gr. [GREEK] to stretch, Skr.
tan
. √51 & 237. Cf.
Attenuate
,
Dance
,
Tempt
,
Tenable
,
Tend
to move,
Tenous
,
Thunder
,
Tone
.]
1.
Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite;
as, a
thin
plate of metal;
thin
paper; a
thin
board; a
thin
covering.
2.
Rare; not dense or thick; – applied to fluids or soft mixtures;
as,
thin
blood;
thin
broth;
thin
air
.
Shak.
In the day, when the air is more
thin
.
Bacon.
Satan, bowing low
His gray dissimulation, disappeared,
Into
thin
air diffused.
Milton.
3.
Not close; not crowded; not filling the space; not having the individuals of which the thing is composed in a close or compact state; hence, not abundant;
as, the trees of a forest are
thin
; the corn or grass is
thin
.
Ferrara is very large, but extremely
thin
of people.
Addison.
4.
Not full or well grown; wanting in plumpness.
Seven
thin
ears . . . blasted with the east wind.
Gen. xli. 6.
5.
Not stout; slim; slender; lean; gaunt;
as, a person becomes
thin
by disease
.
6.
Wanting in body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
Thin
, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams.
Dryden.
7.
Slight; small; slender; flimsy; wanting substance or depth or force; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering;
as, a
thin
disguise
.
My tale is done, for my wit is but
thin
.
Chaucer.
☞
Thin
is used in the formation of compounds which are mostly self-explaining; as,
thin
-faced,
thin
-lipped,
thin
-peopled,
thin
-shelled, and the like.
Thin section
.
See under
Section
.

Thin

,
adv.
Not thickly or closely; in a seattered state;
as, seed sown
thin
.
Spain is
thin
sown of people.
Bacon.

Thin

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Thinned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Thinning
.]
[Cf. AS. ge
þynnian
.]
To make thin (in any of the senses of the adjective).

Thin

,
Verb.
I.
To grow or become thin; – used with some adverbs, as out, away, etc.;
as, geological strata
thin
out, i. e., gradually diminish in thickness until they disappear
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Thin

THIN

,
Adj.
[L. tenuis; Gr. narrow.]
1.
Having little thickness or extent from one surface to the opposite; as a thin plate of metal; thin paper; a thin board; a thin covering.
2.
Rare; not dense; applied to fluids or to soft mixtures; as thin blood; thin milk; thin air.
In the day, when the air is more thin.
3.
Not close; not crowded; not filling the space; not having the individuals that compose the thing in a close or compact state; as, the trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin. A thin audience in church is not uncommon. Important legislative business should not be transacted in a thin house.
4.
Not full or well grown.
Seven thin ears. Gen.41.
5.
Slim; small; slender; lean. A person becomes thin by disease. Some animals are naturally thin.
6.
Exile; small; fine; not full.
Thin hollow sounds, and lamentable screams.
7.
Not thick or close; of a loose texture; not impervious to the sight; as a thin vail.
8.
Not crowded or well stocked; not abounding.
Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.
9.
Slight; not sufficient for a covering; as a thin disguise.

THIN

,
adv.
Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state; as seed sown thin.
Spain is thin sown as people.

THIN

,
Verb.
T.
[L. tenuo. See Attenuate.]
1.
To make thin; to make rare or less thick; to attenuate; as, to thin the blood.
2.
To make less close, crowded or numerous; as, to thin the ranks of an enemy; to thin the trees or shrubs of a thicket.
3.
To attenuate; to rarefy; to make less dense; as, to thin the air; to thin the vapors.

Definition 2024

thin

thin

See also: Thìn, þin, and þín

English

Adjective

thin ‎(comparative thinner, superlative thinnest)

  1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
    thin plate of metal;  thin paper;  thin board;  thin covering‎
  2. Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
    thin wire;  thin string‎
  3. Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
    thin person
  4. Of low viscosity or low specific gravity, e.g., as is water compared to honey.
  5. Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.
    The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.
    • Addison
      Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.
  6. (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
  7. Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
    • Dryden
      thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams
  8. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
    a thin disguise

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt

Noun

thin ‎(plural thins)

  1. (philately) A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
  2. Any food produced or served in thin slices.
    chocolate mint thins
    potato thins

Translations

Verb

thin ‎(third-person singular simple present thins, present participle thinning, simple past and past participle thinned)

  1. (transitive) To make thin or thinner.
  2. (intransitive) To become thin or thinner.
  3. To dilute.
  4. 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

Translations

Adverb

thin ‎(comparative more thin, superlative most thin)

  1. Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
    seed sown thin
    • Francis Bacon
      Spain is thin sown of people.

Anagrams

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þīnaz.

Determiner

thīn

  1. thy, your (singular)
  2. thine, yours

Descendants

  • Middle Dutch: dijn

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *þīnaz.

Determiner

thīn

  1. thy, your (singular)
  2. thine, yours
Declension


See also

Etymology 2

See here.

Determiner

thin

  1. Instrumental singular masculine and neuter form of thē

Welsh

Noun

thin

  1. 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.

Etymology

From Middle English thin, thinne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz ‎(“thin”) – compare *þanjaną ‎(“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us ‎(“thin”), from Proto-Indo-European *tenw(ə)- ‎(“to pull, stretch”). Cognate with Danish tynd ‎(“thin”), Dutch dun ‎(“thin”), Elfdalian tunn ‎(“thin”), Faroese tunnur ‎(“thin”), German dünn ‎(“thin”), Icelandic þunnur ‎(“thin”), Luxembourgish dënn ‎(“thin”), Norwegian tynn ‎(“thin”), Swedish tunn ‎(“thin”), Vilamovian dynn ‎(“thin”), West Frisian tin ‎(“thin”). Related to Breton tanav ‎(“thin”), Cornish tanow ‎(“thin”), Irish tanaí ‎(“thin”), Latin tenuis ‎(“thin”), Latvian tievs ‎(“thin”), Manx thanney ‎(“thin”), Persian تنگ ‎(tang, “narrow”) Sanskrit तनु ‎(tanu, “thin”) Scottish Gaelic tana ‎(“thin”), Welsh tenau ‎(“thin”). Also related to tenuous.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈθɪn/
  • Rhymes: -ɪn

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