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”)
To gradually cause (something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow) to melt or soften by raising the temperature.
Sette the potte to the fyre to thawe the water: […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio ccclxxxviii, verso, column 1; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
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.c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature C, recto:
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The Frame of burniſh'd Steel, that caſt a Glare / From far, and ſeem'd to thavv the freezing Air.1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 44:
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.a. 1705 (date written), Thomas Brown, “The London and Lacedemonian Oracles. […] In which He Undertakes to Answer All Witty and Ingenious Questions, for the Diversion as well as Satisfaction of the Curious.”, in The Third Volume of the Works of Mr. Thomas Brown, Containing, Amusements Serious & Comical, Calculated for the Meridian of London. […], London: […] S. B. and sold by R. Bragg, […], published 1708, →OCLC, page 138:
But Mr. Bailly vvill ſooner thavv the eternal ice of his atlantic regions, than reſtore the central heat to Paris, […]1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 349:
I weep for Adonais—he is dead! / O, weep for Adonais! though our tears / Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!1821, Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, […], Pisa, Italy: […] Didot; reprinted London: Noel Douglas […], 1927, →OCLC, stanza I, page 7:
2
To gradually cause (someone or something that is very cold) to warm up.
[M]y very lippes might freeze to my teeth, my tongue to the roofe of my mouth, my heart in my belly, ere I ſhould come by a fire to thavv me, […]c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 220, column 2:
I led him ben but any pingle, / And beekt him bravvly at my ingle; / Dighted his face, his handies thovv'd, / 'Til his young cheeks, like roſes, glovv'd.1728, Allan Ramsay, “An Anacreontick on Love”, in Poems, [Edinburgh?]: [s.n.], published 1760, →OCLC, page 278:
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After I was lodged, thawed, and fed, I fell asleep, and slept for eighteen hours, without waking once; to my mind, it was a miracle that I ever woke again.1829, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Entrance into Petersburgh—a Recontre with an Inquisitive and Mysterious Stranger—Nothing Like Travel”, in Devereux. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 26:
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Figuratively To cause (something inactive) to become active; also, to cause (something unfeeling) to have feelings.
[N]ovv my loue is thavv'd, / VVhich like a vvaxen Image 'gainſt a fire / Beares no impreſſion of the thing it vvas.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], page 27, column 1:
JENNY pretends an Errand Hame, / Young ROGER draps the reſt, / To vvhiſper out his melting Flame, / And thovv his Laſſie's Breaſt.1725, Allan Ramsay, “Prologue”, in The Gentle Shepherd; a Scots Pastoral Comedy, Edinburgh: […] Mr. Tho[mas] Ruddiman, for the author, […], and by Mr. Thomas Longman […], and Mr. James M‘Ewin, […], and by Mr. Alexander Carmichael […], →OCLC, Act III, scene iii, page 44:
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Figuratively To cause (someone or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly) to become friendly or gentle.
"Speak aloud, my lord," said Elizabeth, "and at farther distance, so please you—your breath thaws our ruff. What have you to ask of us?"1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 307:
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Of something frozen, such as earth, ice, or snow: to gradually melt or soften as a result of the temperature being raised.
the ice thaws
O that this too too ſallied [sullied] fleſh vvould melt, / Thavv and reſolue it ſelfe into a devve, […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], signature C, recto:
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Tvvo miles hence Eaſtvvard, there ſpreeds it ſelfe abroad a large poole, vvhich the Britans call Linſavethan and Linſavathen, that is, A lake of ſtanding vvater: Giraldus [Gerald of Wales] tearmeth it Clamoſum, that is Clamorous or Crying loud, becauſe it maketh a ſtrange noiſe like thunder, as often as the Yce thereon doth thavv.1610, William Camden, “Brechnock-shire”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, →OCLC, page 628:
I would that as water / My life's blood had thawn, […]1865, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Atalanta in Calydon. A Tragedy, London: Edward Moxon and Co., […], →OCLC, page 101:
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Of someone or something that is very cold: to gradually warm up.
The bog's green harper, thawing from his sleep, / Twangs a hoarse note and tried a shortened leap; […]1850–1856, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], “[Songs in Many Keys (1849–1861). I. 1849–1856. Pictures from Occasional Poems (1850–1856)]. Spring.”, in The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, household edition, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], published [1895], →OCLC, page 99, column 2:
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Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences With the dummy pronoun it: of the weather: to become sufficiently warm for ice, snow, etc., to melt.
It’s beginning to thaw.
It Thaweth as the weather dothe whan the froſt breaketh⸝ […] It thaweth a pace: […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio ccclxxxviii, verso, column 1; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
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Figuratively Of a person or their feelings that are reserved or unfriendly: to become friendly or gentle.
Her anger has thawed.
The atmosphere at the meeting never really thawed.
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Figuratively Of something inactive: to become active; also, of something unfeeling: to develop feelings.
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”)
1
Also A gradual melting or softening of something frozen (such as earth, ice, or snow) when the temperature rises; the transformation of something frozen into a fluid or semifluid.
2
Also A gradual warming up of someone or something that is very cold.
raging floods pursue their hasty thaw; / Our thaw was mild , the cold not chased away1660, [John] Dryden, Astraea Redux:
3
Also, Figuratively Of something inactive: an act of becoming active; also, of something unfeeling: an act of developing feelings.
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Also, Figuratively Of a person who is reserved or unfriendly: an act of becoming friendly or gentle.
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Government, PoliticsAlso, Figuratively A period of relaxation of restrictions in a country or state; also, a period of increased friendliness or understanding, or of reduced hostility or tension in relations, between states.
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Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciencesAlso A period of weather warm enough to melt ice, snow, etc.