THOW-zuhnd
/ˈθaʊzənd/
thousand is pronounced THOW-zuhnd (/ˈθaʊzənd/). Thousand is a cardinal number equal to the sum of ten hundreds. It refers to a large, indefinite quantity and is commonly used in counting, pricing, and expressions like "thousand dollars". The word emphasizes a large scale and appears across formal and informal contexts, often paired with nouns denoting quantity or measurement.
Thousand is a cardinal number equal to the sum of ten hundreds. It refers to a large, indefinite quantity and is commonly used in counting, pricing, and expressions like "thousand dollars". The word emphasizes a large scale and appears across formal and informal contexts, often paired with nouns denoting quantity or measurement.
"I donated a thousand dollars to the charity fundraiser."
"The population reached about a thousand people after the festival."
"She saved a thousand reminders in her calendar before the launch."
Pronunciation: /ˈθaʊ.zənd/ (US/UK/AU). Primary stress on the first syllable: THAUND-zənd. The first syllable sounds like the word “thow” with an /aʊ/ diphthong, followed by a clear /z/ sound. The second syllable is a reduced schwa /ə/ before the /nd/, with a light final /d/ or elided in fast speech. In careful speech you hear the full /d/, in casual speech you may hear /-zən/ or /-zən/ without strong final /d/. Audio reference: listen to native pronunciation on Forvo or YouGlish for natural context.
Common mistakes include: (1) Mispronouncing the /θ/ as /f/ or /t/; keep the interdental fricative by lightly touching tongue tip to upper teeth. (2) Confusing /aʊ/ with /aɪ/; ensure the diphthong starts at /a/ trending toward /ʊ/. (3) Not pronouncing the second syllable with a noticeable /z/ before /ənd/; ensure the /z/ is clear and the following vowel can be reduced to schwa. Corrections: practice /θ/ with a gentle breathy friction, keep /aʊ/ intact, and land the /zd/ sequence crisply or as /zən/ in faster speech.
In General American, /ˈθaʊ.zənd/ with a rhotic-like neutral /r/ absence. In most UK accents, /ˈθaʊ.zən(d)/ or /ˈθaʊ.zən/ with non-rhoticity; the final /d/ may be vocalized or elided in rapid speech. In Australian English, /ˈθaʊ.zən(d)/ with the /ə/ in the second syllable slightly more centralized; sometimes a slight raising of /æ/ to /a/ depending on speaker. Overall, main differences are /r/ rhoticity, vowel length, and final consonant realization.
The difficulty centers on the initial voiceless dental fricative /θ/ and the rapid neutralization of the middle and final syllables. The /aʊ/ diphthong requires a precise mouth opening and glide toward /ʊ/. The cluster /zənd/ necessitates a clear /z/ before a light /ənd/ and potential schwa reduction. Practicing the interdental placement, maintaining a steady /aʊ/ trajectory, and ensuring the /z/ lands cleanly helps reduce slurring or misarticulation in rapid speech.
There are no truly silent letters in thousand when spoken; however, the second syllable’s schwa can be markedly reduced in fast speech, making /ˈθaʊ.zən(d)/ sound like /ˈθaʊ.zən/ with an audible but subdued /ənd/. The most phoneti cally sensitive feature is the interdental /θ/ at the start and the /z/ preceding the schwa; ensuring both are accurate will keep the word sounding natural.
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Thousand comes from Old English thūsend, which itself derives from Proto-Germanic *þūsund. The root is linked to the base word for ‘ten’ (tēn) and is related to other Germanic terms for large numbers (e.g., thousand, thousandfold). The Old English form thūsend eventually standardized into thousand; the pronunciation shifted with Great Vowel Shift influences, aligning with modern English stress on the first syllable. The word’s use expanded from mathematical counting to broad quantification in everyday and legal language, as economic and administrative vocabularies grew in medieval and early modern Europe. First known uses appear in translational mathematics and accounting texts from medieval England, where merchants and scribes used thūsend consistently to denote large sums. Over time, the spelling stabilized to “thousand,” while pronunciation variants converged toward the modern /ˈθaʊ.zənd/ in General American and /ˈθaʊ.zənd/ in standard British English, with minor regional shifts in vowel length and the fricative onset.”,
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Words that rhyme with "thousand"
-nds sounds
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