Etymology From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
thin plate of metal; thin paper; thin board; thin covering
It was no mystery at all, or a mystery covered only with the thinnest and most transparent veil, that forced abortion is a common practice among Turkish women. The horrible secret as to the means and the drugs to be employed is pretty generally known, and where ignorance prevails there are "wise women," old hags, professional abortists, who go about the country relieving matrons of their burthens for a few piastres apiece […]1853, Charles MacFarlane, Kismet: or, The doom of Turkey, page 66:
3 more examples
Out of spite, the human beings pretended not to believe that it was Snowball who had destroyed the windmill: they said that it had fallen down because the walls were too thin.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
The newest form of gold created in a lab is the thickness of two atoms, according to a new study. It’s only 0.47 nanometers thick, which is one million times thinner than a human finger nail. […] This makes it the thinnest unsupported gold ever created and it could be used in electronics and medical devices going forward. The gold is made up of two layers of atoms stacked on top of each other. But don’t let the thin structure fool you.2019 August 6, Ashley Strickland, “Scientists just created the world’s thinnest gold and it’s two atoms thick”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2020:
However, the misconception regarding skin hitboxes was created by a subset of players who believed that wearing thinner skins enhanced their gameplay.2024 March 16, Rishabh Sabarwal, “Fortnite hitboxes: Do skins have a competitive advantage?”, in Dexerto, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2024:
2
Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
thin wire; thin string
Typically, osteoporosis causes the amount of trabecular bone to be reduced and the bone to become thinner, while the intertrabecular space enlarges and the interconnected structure of trabecular bone is disrupted.2015 July 6, “Assessment of the Impact of Zoledronic Acid on Ovariectomized Osteoporosis Model Using Micro-CT Scanning”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2022:
3
Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
thin person
4
Of low viscosity or low specific gravity.
Water is thinner than 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.
Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
6
Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.
a thin, tight-lipped smile
thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
8
Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
In short, we previously found that thin routes benefit from an increase in competition in the Spanish airline market when considering routes that were monopoly routes in 2001.2016, Hartmut Wolf, Peter Forsyth, David Gillen, Liberalization in Aviation, page 105:
10
Poor; scanty; without money or success.
Like their friends the "draggers," the "hoisters" or shoplifters are having a thin time these days, […]1945, Jack Henry, What Price Crime?, page 92:
Etymology From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
1
Hobbies, Lifestyle, 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
1 more example
wheat thins
thin
verb
Etymology From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
1
To make thin or thinner.
Exhausted fathers thinned the blood, You curse the legacy of pain; Darling of an infected brood, You feel disaster climb the vein.1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 4:
2
To become thin or thinner.
The crowds thinned after the procession had passed: there was nothing more to see.
3
To dilute.
4
To remove some plants or parts of plants in order to improve the growth of what remains.
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.2015 September 5, Mark Diacono, “In praise of the Asian pear”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 12 Sep 2015, page 3:
Etymology From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Polish cienki, Russian тонкий (tonkij), Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.
1
Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
seed sown thin
Spain is a nation thin sown of people.a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC: