Etymograph

English

through

Through comes from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw ‘through’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- ‘to pass through’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₂-1‘to cross over, pass through’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þurhw1‘through’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þurh1‘through’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thurgh1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1892through1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English through
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?: “Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₂-Wiktionary, English through‘to cross over, pass through’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þurhwWiktionary, English through‘through’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150þurhWiktionary, English through‘through’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thurghWiktionary, English through
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1892throughWiktionary, English through. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, Walter Besant, Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?: “Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- ‘to pass through’

enter, trans, avatar, tram, tranquillity, tardy, torus, sarai, 20 more

through Old English þurh

thorough, 1 more

Today it means

prep So as to enter (something), pass within or across, and then leave.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “through”. 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 *terh₂- / through

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