thaw
/θoː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.18 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature.
Transitive verb
verb
To cause (something inactive) to become active; also, to cause (something unfeeling) to have feelings.
Transitive verb
verb
To cause (someone or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly) to become friendly or gentle.
Transitive verb
verb
Of something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow: to gradually melt or soften as a result of the temperature being raised.
Intransitive verb
verb
With the dummy pronoun it: of the weather: to become sufficiently warm for ice, snow, etc., to melt.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Sette the potte to the fyre to thawe the water: […]"
- "Miſlike me not for my complexion, / The ſhadovved liuery of the burniſht ſunne, / To vvhom I am a neighbour,and neere bred. / Bring me the faireſt creature North-vvard borne, / VVhere Phœbus fire ſcarce thawes the yſicles, / And let vs make inciſion for your loue, / To proue vvhoſe blood is reddeſt, his or mine."
- "The Frame of burniſh'd Steel, that caſt a Glare / From far, and ſeem'd to thavv the freezing Air."
- "There is a Plant that grovvs on Mount Libanus in Syria, vvhich the Arabian calls the Golden Herb; it begins to appear in the Month of May, after the Snovv is thavvn; in the tvvilight it appears all in a Flame, and continues like a Torch until Morning, vvithout diminution of its Subſtance."
- "But Mr. Bailly vvill ſooner thavv the eternal ice of his atlantic regions, than reſtore the central heat to Paris, […]"
- "I weep for Adonais—he is dead! / O, weep for Adonais! though our tears / Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!"
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English thawen, thowen (“to melt (ice, snow, etc.), thaw”), from Old English þāwian, *þāwan (“to thaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *þauwjan (“to melt, thaw; to digest; to dissolve”), from Proto-Germanic *þawjaną (“to thaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt; to flow, stream”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English thawe, thowe (“melting of ice, snow, etc., thawing”), from thawen, thowen (verb) (see above). cognates * Dutch dooien (“to thaw”) * German tauen (“to thaw”) * German Low German deien (“to thaw”) * Icelandic þeyja (“to thaw”) * Saterland Frisian daie, dauje (“to thaw”) * Swedish töa (“to thaw”) * West Frisian teie (“to thaw”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /θoː/
- British English: /θɔː/
Usage
Inflected Forms
thaws (present, singular)
thawing (participle, present)
thawed (past)
thawed (participle, past)
thawn (nonstandard, participle)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
thawed (first person, past)
thawest (archaic, present)
thawed (past, second person)
thawedst (archaic, past)
thaweth (archaic, present)