▪ I. thigh, n.
(θaɪ)
Forms: see below.
[OE. þ{iacu}oh, þéoh, Anglian þéh = OFris. thiach, neuter, OLG. *thioh, ODu. thio (MDu. dië, diege, dieghe, dijge, Du. dij), ON. þjó, OHG. dioh (MHG. diech):—OTeut. *þeuh-o{supm}, from Indo-Eur. ablaut-series *teuk-, tauk-, tuk-; cf. Lith. taukas, OSlav. tukŭ, Russ. tuk{supu} fat of animals, Lith. tukti to become fat. The regular representative of OE. þéoh was ME. þeh, þeȝ, þee, which still remains as thee in Sc. and north. dialect; but in the 12–13th c. þeȝ became narrowed to þiȝ, thigh (as heȝ, neȝ, deȝen became hiȝ, niȝ, diȝen, high, nigh, die).]
1. The upper part of the leg, from the hip to the knee (in man).
(α) 1 théoh, þéoh, þ{iacu}oh (ðeeoh, þyoh), Angl. thegh, 1–3 þeh, þeo, 3 þeȝ, 3–5 þe, 4–5 þee, thegh, 4–6 they, the, 5 þeie, theȝe, theiȝe; 4–7 (Sc. and north. –9) thee. Pl. 1 þéoh, 2–3 þeȝ, 2– þeos, etc.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 556 Coxa, thegh. a 800 Erfurt Gloss. 295 Theoh. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. vii. §1 Hy crupon þæm mannum betuh þa þeoh. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. lvi. 433 Be his ðio. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 130 Wund on oðrum þeo. c 1000 Lorica Gl. in Sax. Leechd. I. Pref. 70 Ðeeoh, bathma. Ibid. 74 Ðyoh. Ibid. I. 78 ᵹif men his ðeoh acen. c 1200 Ormin 8079 Fet & þeos Tobollenn. c 1250 Hymn to God 24 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 258 Bind him honden, fet, & þeȝ. c 1275 Lay. 30581 He cutte his owe þeh. a 1300 Havelok 1903 He broken shankes, he broken thes. a 1300 Cursor M. 3941 Þe maister sinu of his the. a 1340 Hampole Ps. xliv. 4 With þi swerd abouen þi thee. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 430 Vpwart til his theis. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 177 Woundid in the thegh. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1525 In his the þar was a byle. c 1475 Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 750/28 Hoc femur, a they. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. viii. [vii.] 56 Ane Gregioun swerd doun by his thee. 1685 Lintoun Green (1817) 168 The miller..stands Wi' his untheeked thees. a 1869 C. Spence Fr. Braes of Carse (1898) 71, I wade the ditches to the thees. |
(
β) 2–3
þih, 2–4
þi,
þy, 4–5
þiȝ,
þiȝe,
þigh(e,
þyghe,
þyhe,
thyȝe, 4–6
þie,
þye,
thie, 5–6
thy,
thyghe, 5–7
thye, 6
thighe,
Sc. thich, 6–
thigh. Pl. 2–3
þih; 3–6
þyes, etc.; 6–
thighs.
| 11.. Fragm. ælfric's Gram. (1838) 2 Femur vel coxa, þih. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 211 Þih and shonkes and fet. c 1275 Passion Our Lord 490 in O.E. Misc. 51 Þat heore þyes beon to-broken. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxv. 337 Þi boþe þhiȝes. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 143 Þe knyȝtis broken not Cristis þies. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 425 As hit were a manis þyghe. Ibid. II. 203 Somme haueþ þighes with oute hammes. a 1400 R. Gloucester's Chron. 4921 + 110 (Harl. MS.) A gret pece of ys owe þy [v. rr. þiȝ, þiȝe, thyȝe, þye] he kerf out wyþ a knyf. 1484 Caxton Fables of Avian xiii, He..hytte hym on the thye. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 903 The thighe, la cuisse. 1545 T. Scalon Treat. Astron. (MS. Ashm. 391), Mars the hed, Sol the thyg[h]es or hamme. a 1584 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 114 By his naked thyis. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. v. 20 The wicked steele stayd not till it did light In his left thigh. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. viii. (S.T.S.) 125 His thich bane is brokne. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xviii. 105 Through his thin Garment, what a Thigh he showes. 1865 Kingsley Herew. x, Hereward..owned..no mistress save the sword on his thigh. |
† b. The part of a garment covering the thigh.
| 1533 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 184 To draw the theis of the saidis gray hois. 1550 Ibid. IX. 405 Theis of hose. |
2. In lower vertebrate animals, The part of the hind leg which is homologous with the human thigh, or which is popularly regarded as corresponding to it in position or shape; in certain quadrupeds, as the horse, applied to the tibia; in birds to the tarsus; hence in insects, etc., the third section of the leg.
| a 1300 Thrush & Night. 68 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 53 Fowel, me thinketh thou art les, They thou be milde and softe of thes. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 355 Liche to mares wiþ white legges up to þe þiȝes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 490/2 Thy, lymme of a beeste, femur. 1604 Drayton Owle 121 Each Bee with Honey on her laden thye. 1737 Ochtertyre House Bks. (1907) 66 For a thigh of beefe for the hawks {pstlg}0. 1. 1. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 374 The posterior thighs are strongly inflated in one of the sexes, where the antennæ are usually long and smaller at the extremity. 1866 B. W. Hawkins Anat. Horse 23 The bones of the leg (‘thigh’ of horsemen) are the tibia and fibula. |
3. transf. e.g. the stem of a plant, the lower trunk of a tree, the lower slopes of a mountain.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 255 About his thegh let no thyng growyng be, But if hit axe to be reuocate. 1758 Phil. Trans. L. 632 Ribs, like what we call the thighs of certain trees. 1889 C. Edwardes Sardinia 232 The burly thighs of [mount] Gennargentu as an impenetrable barrier between us and the south. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
thigh-ache,
thigh-joint,
thigh-muscle,
thigh-percussion-sound,
thigh-socket,
thigh-wound;
thigh-slapping;
thigh-born,
thigh-deep,
thigh-fraughted,
thigh-high,
thigh-long,
adjs.;
† thigh-belly-less a., having neither thighs nor belly (
nonce-wd.);
thigh-boot, a boot with uppers reaching to the thigh;
thigh-hole,
† (
a) the groin (
obs.); (
b) a hole for the thigh in bathing-drawers or the like;
thigh-length a., (of a garment, boot, etc.) extending down or up to the thigh;
thigh lift, a dance movement or gymnastic exercise in which the thigh is raised; the lifting of the thigh in this;
thigh-piece (
† the-pess), a piece of armour for the thigh;
thigh roll, a roll of padding on a saddle, designed to prevent the girths from slipping backwards and to support the rider's legs in jumping and dressage;
thigh-slapper colloq., an exceptionally funny joke, description, or the like;
thigh-tongue: see
quot.| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 6 Læcedomas wiþ *þeohece. 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 655 Thighache, anoint with sheepes doung and vinegar often. |
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Shadow Judgm. Wks. (1711) 34 *Thigh-bellyless, most gastly to the sight. |
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxiv, Great *thigh-boots smoked hot with grease and blood. |
| 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Triumphall Verses Wks. iii. 122/2 His braine-bred Daughter, and his *thigh-borne Sonne. 1655 tr. Com. Hist. Francion v. 7 Bacchus the thigh-born Infant. |
| 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xli, We fought *thigh-deep in the gathering flood. |
| 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 87 When the *thigh-fraughted Bee gathered her thyme. |
| 1893 Scribner's Mag. June 734/1 Bamboo grass, *thigh-high. |
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 11 Þe armeholes, þe *þeholes, þe chawellez, &c. |
| 1895 *Thigh-length [see knee-length s.v. knee n. 13]. 1979 S. Smith Survivor xvii. 177, I wore a thigh-length Indian-print chemise. |
| 1949 Shurr & Yocom Mod. Dance v. 113 Do not allow body to tip forward on *thigh lift. c 1973 J. Cholerton Acrobatic Section Syllabus (Assoc. Amer. Dancing) (ed. 6) 2 Thigh Lifts.—sit: legs straight in front—hands on the floor behind, lean slightly back. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 191 The knee-jerk is uniformly absent when the *thigh-muscles are paralysed. |
| 1853 Markham Skoda's Auscult. 10 The completely empty percussion-sound—the *thigh-percussion-sound—heard at any yielding part of the walls of the thorax, or the abdomen. |
| c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 265 On the *the pess a felloun strak him gaiff. 1828 Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 322 Arm-plates, thigh-pieces, greaves for the legs. |
| 1963 E. H. Edwards Saddlery xiv. 101 The Continental panel is similar, but with..the addition of a *thigh roll at the rear... The thigh roll is rarely evident to the rider unless it is very heavily stuffed, and its real use is to prevent the girth straps moving back off the flap. 1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 31 (Advt.), Colombo the unique jumping saddle... The exterior thigh roll is an unusual but effective feature. |
| 1965 Wall St. Jrnl. 13 Sept. 14/4 The *thigh-slapper..the President got off to reporters when Lynda Bird showed up in a billowy muu-muu dress. |
| 1932 V. Woolf Common Reader 2nd Ser. 216 [Meredith] overdoes the pith and the sap; the fist-shaking and the *thigh-slapping. 1979 Dance Mag. Feb. 32/3 ‘Lovesick Blues’ unexpectedly serves as the up-beat, thigh-slapping finale. |
| 1812 A. Plumtre Lichtenstein's S. Afr. I. 97 The great muscle of the thigh [of the eland] smoked... These..from the resemblance they then bear to bullocks' tongues, are called *thigh tongues. |
▪ II. † thigh, v. Obs. (
θaɪ)
[f. thigh n.] 1. trans. To carve (a small bird): see
quots.| c 1470 in Hors, Shepe, & G. etc. (Caxton 1479 Roxb. repr.) 33 Alle smale birdes thyed. 1508 Bk. Keruing A j, in Babees Bk. 265 Thye that pegyon..thye that wodcocke, thye all maner of small byrdes. 1675 H. Woolley Gentlewom. Comp. 113 In cutting up all manner of small Birds, it is proper to say, Thigh them. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xxvi. 382 So you thigh curlews, plover, or snipe. |
2. intr. To cower down, squat.
rare—0.
| 1611 Florio, Accosciare, to thigh, to coure down [1598 to ioyne thighes]. |