Thie

German

Alternative forms

• Tie (scientific; in place and street names almost always Thie)

Etymology

From Middle Low German tî, tîe, tigge, from Proto-West Germanic *tīh. Cognate with Old High German zīh (“forum”), Old Frisian ty (“thingstead”), Old English tīh (“plot of land”), whence dialectal English tye (“village green”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tiː/

Noun

Thie m (strong, genitive Thies, no plural)

1. (Northern Germany, now chiefly in placenames) a square or spot in a village that historically served as a thingstead

   Wir treffen uns am Thie. ― We’ll meet at the old thingstead. / We’ll meet at the spot commonly known as the Thie.

Usage notes

• Spots popularly as well as officially known as Thie exist in many northern German villages. There is often no local tradition about the original purpose of these places, but information plaques have sometimes been installed.
• Plurals could be Thie, Thien, Thies, but they are hardly attested (if at all). Compounds such as T(h)ieplätze or T(h)iestätten are more common.

See also

• Anger, Brink
• Thing