What is a “thread” (really)?

A thread is an independent set of values for the processor registers (for a single core). Since this includes the Instruction Pointer (aka Program Counter), it controls what executes in what order. It also includes the Stack Pointer, which had better point to a unique area of memory for each thread or else they will interfere with each other.

Threads are the software unit affected by control flow (function call, loop, goto), because those instructions operate on the Instruction Pointer, and that belongs to a particular thread. Threads are often scheduled according to some prioritization scheme (although it’s possible to design a system with one thread per processor core, in which case every thread is always running and no scheduling is needed).

In fact the value of the Instruction Pointer and the instruction stored at that location is sufficient to determine a new value for the Instruction Pointer. For most instructions, this simply advances the IP by the size of the instruction, but control flow instructions change the IP in other, predictable ways. The sequence of values the IP takes on forms a path of execution weaving through the program code, giving rise to the name “thread”.

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