Etymology

throe

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Today it means: A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die. Full definition →

Middle English throu ← Old English þrawu ← Proto-West Germanic *þrau
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throe · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromthrouen
  2. Old English · inherited fromþrōwian
  3. Middle English · inherited fromthrouen“to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”
  4. Proto-Germanic · derived from*þrawō
  5. Old Norse · derived fromþrá“longing, yearning”
  6. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þrōwijaną
  7. Old English · inherited fromþrōwian“to endure, suffer”
  8. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*trewh₁-
  9. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þrawō“longing; suffering”
  10. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*þrau
  11. Old English · inherited fromþrawu
  12. Middle English · inherited fromthrou
  13. English todaythroe

The noun is probably derived partly: * from Middle English throu, throwe (“(chiefly in the plural) uterine contraction during the birth of a child; pain experienced while giving birth; suffering; a pain; emotional distress, anxiety”) [and other forms], perhaps from: ** Old English þrawu (rare), a variant of þrēa (“affliction, torment; disaster; oppression; a rebuke; severity; threat”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrau, from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (“longing; suffering”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewh₁-; and ** Old English þrōwian (“to endure, suffer”), from Proto-Germanic *þrōwijaną, probably from *þrawō (see above); and ** Old Norse þrá (“longing, yearning”), from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (see above); and * from Middle English throuen (“to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”) [and other forms], from Old English þrōwian (see above). The current spelling of the word is a 16th-century variant of Middle English throu, throwe, perhaps to avoid confusion with throw (“act of turning or twisting; fit of bad temper or peevishness; look of anger, bad temper, irritation, etc., a grimace”). The verb is derived: * from the noun; and * perhaps from Middle English throuen (verb) (see above).

throe · noun2

Perhaps a variant of froe.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*þrawō all →

threap

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.