Etymograph

English

throttle

Throttle comes from Middle English throte ‘throat’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘to be strong, ready, stiff’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-1‘to be strong, ready, stiff’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þrutǭ1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þrotā1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þrote2‘throat’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500throte3‘throat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*throtel3reconstructeddiminutive of throte
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1817throttle3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English þrote
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English throte
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English throttle
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Walter Scott, The Quest of Sultaun Solimaun”: “Then up got Peg, and round the house gan…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ster-Wiktionary, Old English þrote‘to be strong, ready, stiff’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þrutǭWiktionary, Old English þrotereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þrotāWiktionary, Old English þrotereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þroteWiktionary, Middle English throte‘throat’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500throteWiktionary, English throttle‘throat’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*throtelWiktionary, English throttlereconstructeddiminutive of throte
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1817throttleWiktionary, English throttle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1817, Walter Scott, The Quest of Sultaun Solimaun”: “Then up got Peg, and round the house gan…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ster- ‘to be strong, ready, stiff’

still, start, street, strength, stronger, strongly, straw, strongest, stare, stern, stereo, starve, torpedo, cholesterol, sterile, strenuous, sterility, 17 more

through Middle English throte ‘throat’

throat

Another origin of throttle

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500throtlen‘to choke, strangle, suffocate’
  2. Englishtodaythrottle

Today it means

noun A valve that regulates the supply of fuel-air mixture to an internal combustion engine and thus controls its speed; a similar valve that controls the air supply to an engine.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “throttle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English þrote, Middle English throte. 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 *ster- / throttle

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