thousand
- 1The number equal to ten hundred, written as 1,000 or 10³.
The charity raised over a thousand dollars in a single afternoon.
Nearly ten thousand runners registered for the marathon this year.
UsageAfter a number, no -s: three thousand people (not
incorrect: three thousands people). For an unknown large number, thousands of people. - 2An indefinitely large number, used loosely to emphasize or exaggerate rather than to count anything.
If I've heard that excuse once, I've heard it a thousand times.
He had a thousand questions about the trip and asked every one of them on the drive.
UsageOften used in phrases such as a thousand times or a thousand things, to exaggerate.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English "thousend" and Old English "þūsend," going back through Proto-Germanic "*þūsundī" (source also of German "tausend," Dutch "duizend," and Swedish "tusen") to Proto-Indo-European roots seen in Lithuanian "tūkstantis" and Russian "týsjača."
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English thousand derives from Middle English thousend and Old English þūsend, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *þūsundī. en.wiktionary.org
- German tausend also descends from Proto-Germanic *þūsundī. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch duizend also descends from Proto-Germanic *þūsundī. en.wiktionary.org
- Swedish tusen also descends from Proto-Germanic *þūsundī. en.wiktionary.org
- Thousand shares Proto-Indo-European ancestry with Lithuanian tūkstantis and Russian týsjača. en.wiktionary.org