theatrical (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict[theatrical 词源字典]
1550s, "pertaining to the theater;" see theater + -ical. Sense of "stagy, histrionic" is attested from 1709. Related: Theatrically; theatricality.[theatrical etymology, theatrical origin, 英语词源]
theatrics (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1807, "matters pertaining to the stage," from noun use of theatric (adj.) "pertaining to the theater" (1706), from theater. Meaning "theatrical behavior" is attested from 1929, American English.
Thebaid (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1727, "district around Thebes (in Egypt)," formerly haunted by hermits and ascetics. Also, "pertaining to (Boeotian) Thebes" in Greece, especially in reference to the poem by Statius.
theco-youdaoicibaDictYouDict
before vowels thec-, word-forming element used in botany and zoology with the sense "case, capsule," from Latinized combining form of Greek theke "case, receptacle," from root of tithenai "to put, place" (see theme).
thee (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
Old English þe (accusative and dative singular of þu "thou"), from Proto-Germanic *theke (cognates: Old Frisian thi, Middle Dutch di, Old High German dih, German dich, Old Norse þik, Norwegian deg, Gothic þuk), from PIE *tege-, accusative of root *tu-, second person singular pronoun (see thou). The verb meaning "to use the pronoun 'thee' to someone" is recorded from 1662, in connection with the rise of Quakerism.

In Middle English, people began to use plural forms in all cases, at first as a sign of respect to superiors, then as a courtesy to equals. By the 1600s, the singular forms had come to represent familiarity and lack of status, and fell from use except in the case of a few dialects, notably in the north of England. People in Lancashire north of the Rossendale Forest and Yorkshire formerly were noted for use of the singular second person pronouns tha (nom.) and thee (acc.). For religious reasons (Christian equality of persons, but also justified as grammatically correct), the Quakers also retained the familiar forms.
Thou and Thee was a sore cut to proud flesh and them that sought self-honour, who, though they would say it to God and Christ, could not endure to have it said to themselves. So that we were often beaten and abused, and sometimes in danger of our lives, for using those words to some proud men, who would say, "What! you ill-bred clown, do you Thou me?" as though Christian breeding consisted in saying You to one; which is contrary to all their grammar and teaching books, by which they instructed their youth. [George Fox's journal, 1661]



While the Quakers originally adopted "thee" and "thou" on account of their grammatical correctness, they soon fell into the careless habit of using "thee," the objective, instead of "thou," the nominative. Common illustrations are: "How does thee do?" or "Will thee," etc. [George Fox Tucker, "A Quaker Home," Boston, 1891]
theft (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-13c., from Old English þeofð (West Saxon þiefð) "theft," from Proto-Germanic *theubitho (cognates: Old Frisian thiufthe, Old Norse þyfð), from *theubaz "thief" (see thief) + abstract formative suffix *-itha (cognate with Latin -itatem; see -th (2)).
thegn (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"military tenant of an Anglo-Saxon king," 1848, a modern revival of an Old English form; see thane.
their (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
plural possessive pronoun, c. 1200, from Old Norse þierra "of them," genitive of plural personal and demonstrative pronoun þeir "they" (see they). Replaced Old English hiera. As an adjective from late 14c. Use with singular objects, scorned by grammarians, is attested from c. 1300, and OED quotes this in Fielding, Goldsmith, Sydney Smith, and Thackeray. Theirs (c. 1300) is a double possessive. Alternative form theirn (1836) is attested in Midlands and southern dialect in U.K. and the Ozarks region of the U.S.
theirs (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
possessive pronoun, "their own," early 14c., from their + possessive -s, on analogy of his, etc. In form, a double possessive.
theirself (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
emphatic plural pronoun, c. 1300, from their + self, with self, originally an inflected adjective, treated as a noun with a meaning "person." Related: Theirselves.
theism (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1670s, "belief in a deity or deities," (as opposed to atheism); by 1711 as "belief in one god" (as opposed to polytheism); by 1714 as "belief in the existence of God as creator and ruler of the universe" (as opposed to deism), the usual modern sense; see theist + -ism.
Theism assumes a living relation of God to his creatures, but does not define it. It differs from deism in that the latter is negative and involves a denial of revelation, while the former is affirmative, and underlies Christianity. One may be a theist and not be a Christian, but he cannot be a Christian and not be a theist. [Century Dictionary]
theist (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1660s, from Greek theos "god" (see theo-) + -ist. The original senses was that later reserved to deist: "one who believes in a transcendent god but denies revelation." Later in 18c. theist was contrasted with deist, as believing in a personal God and allowing the possibility of revelation.
theistic (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1780, from theist + -ic. Related: Theistical (1690s); theistically.
them (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
third person plural pronoun, c. 1200, from Old Norse þeim, dative of plural personal and demonstrative pronoun þeir (see they). Replaced Old English cognate him, heom.
thematic (adj.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1690s, in logic, from Greek thematikos, from thema (genitive thematos; see theme). From 1871 of writing or discourse. Related: Thematical; thematically.
theme (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
early 14c., "subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks," from Old French tesme (13c., with silent -s- "indicating vowel length" [OED], Modern French thème) and directly from Latin thema "a subject, thesis," from Greek thema "a proposition, subject, deposit," literally "something set down," from root of tithenai "put down, place," from PIE *dhe-mn, from root *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Meaning "school essay" is from 1540s. Extension to music first recorded 1670s; theme song first attested 1929. Theme park is from 1960.
ThemisyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
Greek goddess of law and justice, the name means "custom, right," literally "that which is laid down or established" (by custom); also "laws, ordinances," but closer in sense to Latin jus than lex; related to thema "proposition; that which is placed" (see theme).
ThemistoclesyoudaoicibaDictYouDict
name of great Athenian political leader, from Greek Themistokles, literally "famed in law and right," from themis "custom, law, right" (see Themis) + -kles (see Damocles).
themselves (pron.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
mid-15c. in northern dialect, standard from 1540s, alteration of Middle English tham-self, emphatic plural pronoun, also reciprocal pronoun (14c.); see them + self, with self, originally an inflected adjective, treated as a noun with a meaning "person" and pluralized. Displacing Old English heom selfum (dative). Themself returned late 20c. as some writers took to replacing himself with gender-neutral everyone, anyone, etc.
then (adv.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
adverb of time, Old English þanne, þænne, þonne, from Proto-Germanic *thana- (cognates: Old Frisian thenne, Old Saxon thanna, Dutch dan, Old High German danne, German dann), from PIE demonstrative pronoun root *to- (see the).

As a conjunction, "in that case, therefore," in Old English. As an adjective, "being at that time," from 1580s. As a noun from early 14c. For further sense development, see than. Similar evolutions in other Germanic languages; Dutch uses dan in both senses, but German has dann (adv.) "then," denn (conj.) "than." Now and then "at various times" is attested from 1550s; earlier then and then (c. 1200).