threshold

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*terh₁-“to rub, turn”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*þreskaną
3. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þreskudlaz
4. Old English · inherited fromþresċold, þerxold, þrexwold“doorsill, entryway”
5. Middle English · inherited fromthreschwolde
6. English todaythreshold

From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh, (originally) to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”). Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian Bokmål terskel (“threshold”), Norwegian Nynorsk treskald (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”). Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.

Words from the same roots