ตัว

Ultimately from Chinese 頭 (OC *[m-t]ˁo). Cognate with Northern Thai ᨲ᩠ᩅᩫ, Lao ໂຕ (tō) or ຕົວ (tūa), Lü ᦷᦎ (ṫo), Tai Dam ꪶꪔ (to1), Tai Dón ꪔꪺ (to1), Shan တူဝ် (tǒ), Tai Nüa ᥖᥨᥝ (tow), Ahom 𑜄𑜥 (tū) or 𑜄𑜤 (tu), Zhuang duz, Saek ทั๊ว and Khmer តួ (tuə). Compare also Japanese 頭 (tō, “counter for certain animals”).

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. self.
2. figure; form; shape; body; embodiment.
3. figure, number; character; letter.
4. main part; material part; essence.
5. used as a prefix to indicate the state of being, of having a form, or of being an individual, animal, object, etc.
6. (slang, derogatory, offensive) (อี~) prostitute.

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. (now considered colloquial) a second person pronoun, used to address a person of equal or lower status: you.

• In childish usage, the second person pronoun is used with the first person pronoun เขา (kǎo).

ตัว • (dtuua)

1. (derogatory and offensive if applied to humans) Classifier for animals. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
   • 2019 November 20, KhaiRu-Din RoHeng, “ราชกิจจานุเบกษาเผยแพร่ข้อกำหนดศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ...ห้ามวิจารณ์ศาลโดยไม่สุจริต [Government Gazette publishes Constitutional Court regulations...banning dishonest criticism of the Court]”, in ThaiPBS‎^[1], ThaiPBS, retrieved 21 November 2019:

     คนแก่ ๙ ตัวที่นั่งบนเก้าอี้กินเงินเดือนภาษีจากประชาชน ทำไมประชาชนไม่มีสิทธิวิจารณ์

     kon-gɛ̀ɛ · gâao · dtuua tîi nâng bon gâo-îi gin ngən-dʉʉan paa-sǐi jàak bprà-chaa-chon · tam-mai bprà-chaa-chon mâi mii sìt-tí wí-jaan

     [Just] nine old farts sitting on the bench [and] living off the people's taxes [as their] salaries – why do the people have no right to criticise [them]?

2. Classifier for digits, letters, and certain objects. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier
3. Classifier for certain nouns prefixed with ตัว. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

• “ตัว” in Thai Dictionary Project (TDP) (UC Berkeley 1964) (plus additional data from the Royal Institute of Thailand (RI) and NECTEC's LEXITRON project (LEX)). Searchable online at SEAlang.net.