tou

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tou"

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of Vietnamese Thổ with u as a placeholder.

Symbol

tou

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Tho.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Tho terms

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch touw, from Middle Dutch touwe, from Old Dutch *tou, from Proto-Germanic *tawwą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tœu̯/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tou (plural toue, diminutive toutjie)

1. (countable) A rope.
2. (uncountable) Rope.

'Are'are

Noun

tou

1. heart

References

• Kateřina Naitoro, A Sketch Grammar of 'Are'are: The Sound System and Morpho-Syntax (2013)

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin tōtus. Compare Catalan tot, French tout, Italian tutto, Portuguese todo, Romanian tot.

Determiner

tou m (feminine toa, neuter too, masculine plural toos, feminine plural toes)

1. all

Bola

Pronoun

tou

1. third person paucal

See also

Bola personal pronouns

Number	Person		Free	Subject proclitic	Object Suffix	Oblique
Singular	1st		iau	a	free pronoun	nau
	2nd		ioe	o		vomu
	3rd		ia	i	-a	vona
Dual	1st	Exclusive	maria	miri	free pronoun	ne + free pronoun
		Inclusive	tarua	tu
	2nd		marua	muru
	3rd		rua	ru
Paucal	1st	Exclusive	mateu	mete
		Inclusive	teu	te
	2nd		matou	moto
	3rd		tou	to
Plural	1st	Exclusive	mia	mi
		Inclusive	hita	si
	2nd		mua	mu
	3rd		ria	ri

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin tōfus (“tuff”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Valencia) [ˈtɔw], [ˈtow]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈtow]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Adjective

tou (feminine tova, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toves)

1. soft

   Antonym: dur

Derived terms

• estovar
• tovor

Noun

tou m (plural tous)

1. soft or fleshy part (of anything; e.g. the tip of one's finger, the calf of one's leg)
2. bead (of fat)
3. tender cut (of meat)
4. pile, heap (of something soft, e.g. straw)
5. grove (of trees)
6. bug, moth

Noun

tou f (plural tous)

1. turd, piece of shit
2. clay brick

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Catalan tou, from Latin tuum, from Proto-Italic *towos.

Alternative forms

• teu (non-Algherese dialects)

Pronunciation

• (Alghero) IPA^(key): /ˈtow/
• Rhymes: -ow

Pronoun

tou (feminine tua, masculine plural tous, feminine plural tues)

1. (Alghero) your, yours (singular)

See also

• ton

Further reading

• “tou”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “tou”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “tou” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Central Dusun

Noun

tou

1. bottle gourd, monkey apple (Lagenaria siceraria)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtou̯]

Pronoun

tou

1. instrumental feminine singular of ten

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French trop (“too”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tu/

Adverb

tou

1. too, also

Hawaiian

Determiner

tou

1. Niʻihau form of kou (“your”)

   O wai tou inoa?

   What is your name?

Hlai

Etymology

From Proto-Hlai *tʰu: (“seven”), from Pre-Hlai *tu: (Norquest, 2015).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Hlai, Baoding) IPA^(key): /tʰou˥˧/

Numeral

tou

1. seven

Japanese

Romanization

tou

1. Rōmaji transcription of とう

Leonese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

tou (feminine singular toda, masculine plural toos, feminine plural todas)

1. all

Usage notes

When followed by an article, tou is combined with the next word to give the following combined forms:

Contractions of tou

inflected form of tou + article	Combined form
tou + el	tol
toda + la	tola
tou + lu	tolu
toos + los	tolos
todas + las	tolas

References

• “tou”, in Diccionario Castellano-Leonés / Leonés-Castellano [Spanish-Leonese / Leonese-Spanish Dictionary] (in Spanish), La Asociación L'Alderique, 2012–2025

Lote

Noun

tou

1. sugar cane

References

• Greg Pearson, René van den Berg, Lote Grammar Sketch (2008)

Mandarin

Romanization

tou (tou⁵ / tou⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄊㄡ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 夳
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 頬

tou

1. nonstandard spelling of tōu
2. nonstandard spelling of tóu
3. nonstandard spelling of tǒu
4. nonstandard spelling of tòu

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Pronoun

tou

1. alternative form of þou (“thou”)

Nias

Adverb

tou

1. above

   Antonym: yaŵa

References

• Sundermann, Heinrich. 1905. Niassisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Moers: Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, p. 220.

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian twā.

Pronunciation

• (Mooring) IPA^(key): [tʰɔʊ̯]

Numeral

tou

1. feminine/neuter of twäär (“two”)

Old Catalan

Etymology

From Latin tuum.

Adjective

tou (feminine tua, masculine plural tous, feminine plural tues)

1. your, yours (singular)

Synonyms

• ton

Descendants

• Catalan: teu, tou

Portuguese

Etymology

Shortening of estou, first-person singular present indicative of estar.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ow

Verb

tou

1. eye dialect spelling of estou

Samoan

Pronoun

tou

1. second person plural; you (three or more)

See also

Samoan personal pronouns

			singular	dual	plural
1st person			aʻu, ʻou	māʻua, mā (exclusive) tāʻua, tā (inclusive)	mātou (exclusive) tātou (inclusive)
2nd person			ʻoe, ʻe	ʻoulua	ʻoutou, tou
3rd person			ia, na	lāʻua	lātou

Sardinian

Alternative forms

• tuu
• tuo

Etymology

From Latin tuus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtou/

Pronoun

tou (plural tuos, feminine tua, feminine plural tuas)

1. your, yours

Related terms

• meu
• suu/sou/suo
• nostru
• bostru/vostru
• issoro

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian to, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *tō. Cognates include West Frisian ta and German zu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /toːu̯/
• Hyphenation: tou
• Rhymes: -oːu̯

Preposition

tou (neuter or distal adverb deertou, proximal adverb hiertou, interrogative adverb wiertou)

1. to
2. to, towards
3. for, on the occasion of

   Iek skoankte him Wien tou sin Bäidedai. ― I gave him wine as a present for his birthday.

Derived terms

• bit tou

Adjective

tou (masculine touen, feminine, plural or definite toue, comparative touer, superlative toust)

1. closed, locked

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015), “tou”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian tou, towe, tau, tauwe, from Proto-Germanic *tawwą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔu̯/

Noun

tou n (plural touwen, diminutive touke)

1. rope

Further reading

• “tou”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011