thin

Etymology

From Middle English thinne, thünne, thenne, from Old English þynne, from Proto-West Germanic *þunnī, from Proto-Germanic *þunnuz (“thin”) – compare *þanjaną (“to stretch, spread out”) – from Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from *ten- (“to stretch”). Cognate with German dünn, Dutch dun, West Frisian tin, Icelandic þunnur, Danish tynd, Swedish tunn, Latin tenuis, Irish tanaí, Welsh tenau, Latvian tievs, Sanskrit तनु (tanú, “thin”), Persian تنگ (tang, “narrow”). Doublet of tenuis. Also related to tenuous.

adj

1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
   thin plate of metal; thin paper; thin board; thin covering
2. Very narrow in all diameters; having a cross section that is small in all directions.
   thin wire; thin string
3. Having little body fat or flesh; slim; slender; lean; gaunt.
   thin person
4. Of low viscosity or low specific gravity.
   Water is thinner than honey.
5. Scarce; not close, crowded, or numerous; not filling the space.
   The trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin.
6. (golf) Describing a poorly played golf shot where the ball is struck by the bottom part of the club head. See fat, shank, toe.
7. Lacking body or volume; small; feeble; not full.
   a thin, tight-lipped smile
8. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering.
   a thin disguise
9. (aviation) Of a route: relatively little used.
   In short, we previously found that thin routes benefit from an increase in competition in the Spanish airline market when considering routes that were monopoly routes in 2001. 2016, Hartmut Wolf, Peter Forsyth, David Gillen, Liberalization in Aviation, page 105
10. Poor; scanty; without money or success.
    Like their friends the "draggers," the "hoisters" or shoplifters are having a thin time these days, […] 1945, Jack Henry, What Price Crime?, page 92