thus

Etymology 1

From Middle English thus, þus, from Old English þus (“thus, in this way, as follows, in this manner, to this extent”), from Proto-West Germanic *þus (“so, thus”), perhaps originally from a variant of the instrumental form of this, related to Old English þȳs (“by this, with this”), Old Saxon thius (“by this, with this”). Cognate with Scots thus (“thus”), North Frisian aldoz (“thus”), West Frisian dus (“thus”), Dutch dus (“thus, so”), Low German sus (“thus, hence”).

adv

1. (manner) In this way or manner.
   If you throw the ball thus, as I’m showing you, you’ll have better luck hitting the target.
2. (conjunctive) As a result.
   I have all the tools I need; thus, I will be able to fix the car without having to call a mechanic.
   [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic of biological terminology, multiplying. 2013-07-20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

Etymology 2

noun

1. Alternative form of thuris