throat English · revision 6104

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 700|origins=gem-pro *þrut-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /θrəʊt/, US /θroʊt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English throte, [[inh|ang|þrote|t=throat]], also þrotu,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) implied in [[m|ang|þrotbolla|t=Adam's apple, larynx]], literally “throat boll”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and related to [[m|ang|þrūtian|t=to swell]], perhaps from the throat's outward appearance.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It comes from [[gem-pro|*þrut-]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is also the source of [[goh|drozza|t=throat]] (German Drossel), [[osx|strota]] and [[non|þroti|t=a swelling]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart takes it back to PIE [[ine-pro|*trewd-]], while Etymonline calls it of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[it|strozza|t=throat]] is a Germanic loanword.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The front of the neck, Old English before 700;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the passage from the mouth to the stomach or lungs is from about 888.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The throat as the entrance to the stomach, in figurative expressions of greed, is from before 1225,^(OED 1989) and as containing the voice, before 1250.^(OED 1989) The throat as a vital and vulnerable part, as in ''at each other's throats'' and ''cut one's own throat'', is from about 1380,^(OED 1989) and ''to give someone the lie in his throat'', to call him an outright liar, from 1588.^(OED 1989) Anything resembling a throat, a narrow passage, is so called by the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and the destructive capacity of death or war, its devouring throat, from before 1578.^(OED 1989) A sore throat is ''a throat'' colloquially from 1885.^(OED 1989) Throat as American college slang for a competitive student, short for [[cutthroat]], is from the 1970s.^(Etymonline) [[throaty|alt=Throaty]], guttural or hoarse, is from about 1645.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 700 – Old English þrote.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 888 – the passage from the mouth.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – a vulnerable part.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580s – a narrow passage.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1645 – throaty.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1885 – a sore throat.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The front part of the neck.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The passage from the back of the mouth to the [[oesophagus]] and [[windpipe]], including the [[pharynx]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A narrow passage or opening resembling a throat, as of a flower or a [[chimney]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To utter in a harsh or guttural voice.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cutthroat]]

+ * [[rubythroat]]

+ * [[throatlatch]]

+ * [[yellowthroat]]

+ * [[throaty]]

+ * [[whitethroat]]

+ * [[throat sweetbread]]

+ * [[deep throat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[throttle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}