through
/θɹu/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.87 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep
Via or by way of.
Example Sentences
- "I drove through Lausanne on my way from Geneva to Zurich."
- "The bullet went right through his leg."
- "A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays."
- "The virus broke out in the capital city and is now spreading quickly through the country."
- "I'm working through this box set of the TV series 'Downton Abbey'."
- "They forced a path through the jungle."
Etymology
From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian döör (“through”), Saterland Frisian truch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), German durch (“through”), Luxembourgish duerch (“through”), West Flemish deur (“through”), Yiddish דורך (durkh, “through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *terh₂-, thrugh, þurh, *þurhw, *tr̥h₂kʷe, þrūh
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /θɹu/
- British English: /θɹuː/