Etymograph

English

though

Though comes from Middle English thogh ‘However’, from Old Norse *þóh, from Proto-Germanic *þauh ‘nevertheless’, ultimately from PIE *to-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*to-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þau1‘in that case’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þauh1‘nevertheless’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350*þóh1reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thogh1‘However’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611though1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English though
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And hee said vnto him, If they heare not…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*to-Wiktionary, English thoughreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þauWiktionary, English though‘in that case’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þauhWiktionary, English though‘nevertheless’reconstructed
  4. Old Norsec. 800–1350*þóhWiktionary, English thoughreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thoghWiktionary, English though‘However’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611thoughWiktionary, English though. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And hee said vnto him, If they heare not…”

The story

Superseded (in most dialects) Middle English thegh, from Old English þēah (‘though, although, even if, that, however, nevertheless, yet, still; whether’). Both the Old Norse and Old English are from Proto-Germanic *þauh (‘though’), from Proto-Indo-European *to-, suffixed with Proto-Germanic *-hw < Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe (‘and’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with though, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *to-

  • tho ← þā ← *þai ← *þai

through Middle English thogh ‘However, nevertheless, though’

  • thot ← thoucht ← thought

1 more relative in the full family tree

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Today it means

adv Despite that; however.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “though”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *to- / though