Etymology

thoroughfare

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Today it means: A passage; a way through. Full definition →

Middle English thurghfare
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromthurghfare
  2. English todaythoroughfare

From Middle English thurghfare, corresponding to thorough- (“through”) + fare. Compare Old English þurhfaran (“to go through, go over, traverse, pierce, pass through, pass beyond, transcend, penetrate”). Compare also Old English þurhfær (“inner secret place”), German Durchfahrt (“passage through, thoroughfare”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.