# thread

> English word · Noun · IPA /θɹɛd/ · frequency rank #3,399

## Definitions
1. A cord formed by spinning or twisting together textile fibers or filaments into one or more continuous strands, typically used in needlework.
2. A piece of yarn, especially said of warps and wefts in a woven fabric.
3. Any of various natural (as spiderweb, etc.) or manufactured filaments (as glass, plastic, metal, etc.).
4. A slender stream of water.
5. The line midway between the banks of a stream.
6. A screw thread.
7. The continuing course of life; the thread of life.
8. An ordered course, that which connects the successive points in a discourse.
9. An ordered course, that which connects the successive points in a discourse.
10. A unit of execution, lighter in weight than a process, usually sharing memory and other resources with other threads executing concurrently.
11. A series of posts or messages, consisting of an initial post and responses to it, generally relating to the same subject, on a newsgroup, Internet forum, or social media platform.
12. A sequence of connections.
13. A precarious condition; something that which offers no real or otherwise perceived security.
14. The degree of fineness; quality; nature.

## Etymology
From Middle English thred, þred, threed, from Old English þrǣd, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-s, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”).
Cognates
Cognate with Yola dreade (“thread”), Saterland Frisian Träid (“thread, wire”), Cimbrian draat (“string, thread”), Dutch draad (“thread, wire”), German Draht (“thread, wire”), Luxembourgish Drot (“wire”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish tråd (“thread, wire”), Faroese tráður (“thread”), Icelandic þráður (“thread”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian dredh (“twist, turn”). More at throw.

## Easily confused with
- **trad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-trad)
- **three** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-three)
- **treat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-treat)
- **tired** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-tired)
- **trend** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-trend)
- **threw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threw)
- **tread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-tread)
- **triad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-triad)
- **threat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threat)
- **throat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-throat)
- **threes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threes)
- **threats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threats)
- **threads** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threads)
- **threaded** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thread-vs-threaded)
- **Thea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thea-vs-thread)
- **Thad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thad-vs-thread)
- **there'd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/there-d-vs-thread)
- **Thoreau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thoreau-vs-thread)

## Common misspellings (9)
`htread`, `therad`, `thhread`, `thraed`, `threadd`, `threda`, `thrread`, `trhead`, `tthread`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thread