thin

/ˈthin/

Middle English thin, thinne, going back to Old English þynne, going back to Germanic *þunnu- (assimilated to the -ja-stem adjectives in West Germanic, whence Middle Dutch dunne "thin," Old High German dunni, against Old Norse þunnr), generalized from a paradigm *þenu-, *þunw-a-, going back to Indo-European *ténhu-, *tn̥hu̯ó-, whence also, from with a base *tenhu-, *tn̥hu- with varying ablaut and suffixation, Old Irish tanae "thin, slender," Old Welsh teneu, Middle Breton tanau, Latin tenuis "fine-drawn, thin, narrow, slight," Greek tanu- "extended, long," tanaós "outstretched, long," Old Church Slavic tĭnŭkŭ "fine, delicate," Russian tónkij "thin," Croatian & Serbian tȁnak, Lithuanian tę́vas, Sanskrit tanúḥ, tánukaḥ "thin, small"

adjective

  1. having little extent from one surface to its opposite

  2. measuring little in cross section or diameter

  3. not dense in arrangement or distribution

thin paper

thin rope

thin slender slim slight tenuous mean not thick, broad, abundant, or dense. thin implies comparatively little extension between surfaces or in diameter, or it may imply lack of substance, richness, or abundance. slender implies leanness or spareness often with grace and good proportion.

verb

  1. to make thin or thinner:

  2. to reduce in thickness or depth : attenuate

  3. to make less dense or viscous

adverb

  1. in a thin manner : thinly —used especially in combination