through

through · preposition, adjective, adverb¹

1. Proto-Germanic*þurhw
2. Old Englishþurh
3. Middle Englishthurgh
4. English todaythrough

From Middle English thurgh, thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian döör (“through”), Saterland Frisian truch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), German durch (“through”), Luxembourgish duerch (“through”), West Flemish deur (“through”), Yiddish דורך (durkh, “through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.

through · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*terh₃u-“to rub, turn, drill, bore”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þrūhs“hollowed-out wood”
3. Old English · inherited fromþrūh“trough, conduit, pipe; box, chest; coffin, tomb”
4. Middle English · inherited fromthrugh
5. English todaythrough

From Middle English thrugh, þrouȝ, throgh, from Old English þrūh (“trough, conduit, pipe; box, chest; coffin, tomb”), from Proto-Germanic *þrūhs (“hollowed-out wood”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₃u- (“to rub, turn, drill, bore”). Not directly related with German Truhe (“chest”), which belongs to the root of English trough. However, these two Germanic roots seem to have influenced each other early on.

Words from the same roots