Etymologically
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though

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ðəʊ/, US /ðoʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thohh (about 1200, in the Ormulum),[2] which partly continues Old English þēah and is partly borrowed from Old Norse þó;[3][2] the Norse forms replaced the Old English ones in Middle English.[4][5][6] Both come from Proto-Germanic *þauh, cognate with Old Frisian thach, Old Saxon thoh, Dutch doch, Old High German doh (modern German doch) and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐌷 (þauh).[3][2][6] The Germanic word probably joins a demonstrative base, from Proto-Indo-European *to- (as in that and the), with a particle matching Latin -que (“and”), so that it first meant “and yet”.[2][7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Notwithstanding that, conceding that (about 1200).[3] Old English þēah, recorded before 899, meant “though, although, even if” and also “however, nevertheless”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The final -gh did not come to be pronounced -f, as in laugh and tough, although a pronunciation ending in -f existed from about 1300 to 1750 and survives in dialects.[3] The adverb “however, nevertheless”, placed after a statement (she sings well, though), goes back to Old English,[2][8] and the colloquial intensive use (did he, though?) is from 1905.[8][9] The sense “on condition that” was used from Old English until 1711.[8] Although, originally all though, began as an emphatic form of though.[10]

Timeline

  • before 899 – Old English þēah.[2]
  • 971 – adverb þēah.[2]
  • c. 1200 – thohh (Ormulum).[2][3]
  • c. 1300–1750 – pronunciations ending in -f.[3]
  • c. 1378 – thowgh.[2]
  • 1711 – last record of the sense “on condition that”.[8]
  • 1905 – colloquial intensive use.[8]

Modern meaning

Conjunction

  1. Despite the fact that; although: though it was late, we stayed.
  2. Even if; supposing that.
  3. as though: as if.

Adverb

  1. However, nevertheless: it was cold, sunny though.
  2. Used for emphasis: did she, though?

Word family

  • although
  • that
  • the

Usage notes

RHWU notes a traditional objection among some conservatives to using though for although as a conjunction, but finds nothing in current usage to justify the distinction.[10] The informal spelling tho' is recorded by the SOED.[6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House