Etymologically
Log in

þurh

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 18:42. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /θurx/, [θurˠx][1]

Forms

þurh[1] Early spelling þorh in the Épinal Glossary and ðorh in the Corpus Glossary.[2][3] Northumbrian ðerh in the Lindisfarne Gospels gloss.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”).[1] The preposition is shared by the other Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh), Old Frisian thruch, Old Saxon thurh and Old High German duruh.[5][6][7] Holthausen compares Latin trāns (“across”) and Sanskrit तिरस् (tiras, “through, across”), and Orel the same Sanskrit word and Old Irish tar (“across”).[6][5] Orel derives the Germanic form from Proto-Indo-European *teras with the enclitic Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe, and Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *ter- (“through”) (Pokorny 1075).[5][7] Wiktionary's Proto-Germanic article prefers a compound of Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to cross”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“to see”), and mentions the enclitic as the alternative.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the oldest English glossary: the Épinal Glossary (late seventh or early eighth century) glosses Latin “per seudoterum” “through the postern” with þorh ludgaet “through the side gate”.[2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Beside the sense of place, motion through a thing and out at the other side, the word marks time (“throughout”), the means or agent (“by, by means of”), the cause (“because of”) and the manner (“in, with”).[4][9][10] In Beowulf only one instance is local; the others mark means, cause or manner.[10] In the glosses it renders Latin “per” and “propter”, and in one of the ordeal texts that Liebermann edits þurh worulda woruld glosses “per secula seculorum”.[7][11]

The word became Middle English thurgh, which gave English through by metathesis and, as a stressed two-syllable form used as an adjective, English thorough.[12][13]

Timeline

  • s. vii ex. – þorh ludgaet “through the side gate” in the Épinal Glossary.[2][8]
  • s. ix¹ – ðorhludgæt in the Corpus Glossary.[14][3]
  • 890×897 – ðurh sar & ðurh sorge “through pain and through sorrow” in the Pastoral Care.[15][3]
  • s. x/xi – þurh of means and cause in Beowulf.[10][16]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. (with accusative) through, of place: in at one side and out at the other.[4][1][10]
  2. of time: throughout, during.[9][11]
  3. of means or agent: by, by means of, via.[4][1][10]
  4. of cause or motive: because of, from, out of.[10][9]
  5. of manner: in, with, by way of.[10]

Adverb

  1. through, right through.[7]

Word family

  • þurhwunian
  • þurhfaran
  • þurhtēon
  • þurhscēotan
  • þurhdrīfan
  • þurhlǣred

Descendants

  • Middle English thurgh (→ English through; English thorough; Scots throuch)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Pheifer, J. D. (1974), Old English Glosses in the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 129
  3. ^ a b c d Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  4. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1077
  5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 421
  6. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 364
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þurh
  8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 610
  9. ^ a b c Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 207
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. þurh
  11. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 225
  12. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
  15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344