Etymograph

English

threshold

Threshold comes from Middle English threschwolde ‘a door-sill’, from Old English þresċold ‘doorsill, entryway’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-1‘to rub, turn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þreskaną1‘to thresh’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þreskudlaz1uncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þresċold1‘doorsill, entryway’uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500threschwolde1‘a door-sill’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598threshold1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English threshold
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-Wiktionary, English threshold‘to rub, turn’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þreskanąWiktionary, English threshold‘to thresh’uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þreskudlazWiktionary, English thresholduncertain
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þresċoldWiktionary, English threshold‘doorsill, entryway’uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500threschwoldeWiktionary, English threshold‘a door-sill’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598thresholdWiktionary, English threshold. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my…”

The story

Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, turn’

turn, tournament, throw, tragic, thread, trout, detrimental, detriment, detour, attrition, 53 more

through Proto-Germanic *þreskaną ‘to thresh’

4 more

Today it means

noun The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “threshold”. 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 *terh₁- / threshold

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