Chiefly archaic or Obs. Forms: see below. [A disyllabic development of OE. þurh, THROUGH, when fully stressed, which appeared already in later OE. as þuruh (cf. OHG. duruh, durah, durih, OS. thuru), and has regularly become thorough in mod.Eng., as burh became buruh, borough, furh furrow, borh borrow, sorh sorrow, mearh marrow. Thorough is thus the direct representative of the full-stressed OE. þurh; and it is owing to the fact that þurh was chiefly a preposition, and thus usually proclitic and stressless, that it is now, in this use, represented by through (unstressed þru, new-stressed þrū). The stressed form was naturally used when þurh was a separate word, i.e., an adv., adj., or sb., or the stressed part of a compound, as in tho·roughfare; and, as prepositions were sometimes emphatic and stressed, the þuruh, thorough form remained also as a prep. beside the unstressed þŭrh, þŭr, þrŭh, þrŭ, etc.; on the other hand, the new-stressed form through (þrū) of the prep. has in more recent times been taken also by the adv., while thorough remains in both as an archaic form, and as that of the derived adj. and sb. In the adverb its function is largely taken over by its derivative thoroughly.
As both thorough and through are existing words, distinct in spelling and still more in pronunciation, it seems best to make two articles, placing under THROUGH the various monosyllabic forms, including the obsolete þurh, thurgh, þurþ, þurth, and the now dialectal thruff, and treating under THOROUGH the less numerous disyllabic variants. This entails some duplication of the definition, but appears preferable to treating thorough merely as a variant of through. It must be remembered however that both þruh, through, and þuruh, thorough, developed by insensible gradations out of þurh, thurgh, and that therefore the α-forms under THROUGH belong, down to 1300 and 1400, really as much to the history of thorough.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
α. 1–3 þuruh, 3 þureh, þuregh, 3–5 þoruȝ, 4 þoruh, þoruhe, þoroȝ, þorogh, thorogh, 4–5 þorouȝ, thoruȝ, 4–6 thorugh, 5 thoruh, thorowh, -owgh, -ughe, -oughe, 5– thorough (8– thoro’). β. 3–4 þuru, þoru, 4 thoru, þorou, 4–5 thoro, thorou, þorow(e, 4–6 thorowe, 4–8 (9 in comb.) thorow, (5 thurow, thurrowe, 5–6 dorow, 6 thurrou(ly), thorro, 6–7 thorrow); γ. 3–4 þorw, 4 þurw, þourw, thorw, 4–5 þorwe; 4 þoruth (in þoruthlike, THOROUGHLY).
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), lxv. 11. We þuruh fyr farað, and þuruh floda þrym.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 199. Oðer kinnes neddre … criepeð nedlinge þureh nerewe hole. Ibid., 33. Þuregh [see B. I. 6].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8513. Þoru godes wille.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 151. How crist com thoro [v.rr. þorow, thoru, þourȝe] propheci. Ibid. (13[?]), 20698 (B. M. Add. MS.). Þorwe [v.rr. thoru, þorou, þourze] þe toun.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. IX. 151. Þus þourw cursed caym cam care vppon erthe. Ibid., XIV. 300. Þorw þe pas of altoun Pouerte myȝte passe with-oute peril of robbynge.
c. 1380. Þorouz [see B. I. 1 b].
c. 1430. Hymns Virg., 123. Longeus hym stonge dorow þe syde.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. i. 7. Weelnyȝ thoruȝ al the chapiter.
1456. Thurrowe [see B. I. 6].
1467, 1482. Thorow [see B. II. 3].
1474. Thorough [see B. II. 4].
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xiv. Deceyued thoroughe fals counceylle. Ibid. (1485), Chas. Gt., I. II. v. 30. Thorugh hys empyre.
1556. Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden), 40. Browte … to the tower thorrow Smythfelde and in at Newgat, rydynge soo thorrow Chepe-syde. Ibid., 56. Prechyng thorro alle Ynglonde agayne the sacrament of the auter.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 3. Over hill, over dale, Thorough [folios Through] bush, thorough brier.
1672, a. 1713. Thorow [see B. II. 1].
1725. S. Sewall, Diary, 17 March. Much Water passes thorow the three Spaces left for that purpose.
1850, 1893. Thorough [see B. I. 1, 2].
B. Signification.
I. prep. (Still in poetic or archaic use.)
1. From side to side or end to end of; = THROUGH prep. 1. arch.
c. 1000, 1200. [see A.].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4277. Þe erl … mid is launce þoru þe þrote smot on.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7809. Thoru his licam mi suerd i draif.
1377. [see A.].
c. 1450. ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich), 204. Let hyt renne þorow a fayre cloþ.
a. 1540. Barnes, Wks. (1573), 212/2. You ryde thorowe streetes, and townes.
1684. R. Waller, Nat. Exper., 121. An hole thorough the bottom of the Vessel.
1712. trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 149. Such as will pass thorow an Iron Ring.
1850. Blackie, Æschylus, I. 191. Thorough my heart, Thorough my liver, Keen as the cold ice Shot through the river.
b. Of transmission of light or sight. Obs. or arch.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 142. As þe sunne comeþ þorouȝ þe glas.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., II. iii. 33. I saw these bathes thorow a great hole.
a. 1636. Lynde, Case for Spect. (1638), 45. You begin to looke asquint thorow your Spectacles at the reformed Churches.
1705. Stanhope, Paraphr., II. 599. The Truth never shines so bright, as when the Oppositions, that strive to darken it, are plainly seen thorow.
† c. In reference to the passage of the voice through the throat, etc.: = THROUGH prep. 1 d.
1668. [see THROUGH B. I. 1 d].
† d. Of passage between the individual things of a group; = THROUGH prep. 1 e. Obs.
1535. Fisher, Wks. (1876), 365. He must … creepe thorowe the thicke bushes.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 39. The man that cut his way thorough his Enemies.
† e. In phrase thorough one’s hands = THROUGH prep. 1 f. Obs.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 19. The Jewes … are such cheates, they sophisticate all that comes thorough their hands.
1710. Prideaux, Orig. Tithes, v. 268. Lawyers, whose hands it passed thorough.
† f. In various fig. applications: see THROUGH prep. 1 g. Obs.
1543. [see THICK AND THIN A. 1].
1581. Pettie, Guazzo’s Civ. Conv., II. (1586), 58 b. Those of Piemount, who with the shrilnesse of their wordes goe thorow ones eares.
1619. Hieron, Wks., II. 16. Good points of doctrine runne thorow vs as thorow a pipe.
1680. Burnet, Rochester (1692), 127. Which the strength of his Mind would soon break thorough.
† g. Thorough and thorough = THROUGH prep. 1 h. Obs.
13[?]. Cursor M., 24381 (Fairf.). A squorde sulde stike ouerthwert Þorou and þorou [Gött. Toru and thoru] þine awen hert.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, I. 56. He shoued hym thorughe and thorughe his body.
2. Along (to any distance) within. Without implication of traversing from end to end. arch.
c. 1050, etc. [see THROUGH B. I. 2].
c. 1430. Chev. Assigne, 95. He wente þorow a foreste fowre longe myle.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., V. xvi. 257. The Picture of St Christopher … with a staff in his hand, wading thorow the water.
1893. Symonds, in H. T. Wharton, Sappho (1895), 60. Pinion on pinion, thorough middle ether Down from heaven hurried.
3. Over the whole extent of, in or to all parts of; throughout; = THROUGH prep. 3. Also b. sometimes following the sb. arch. and poet.
c. 1000. [see THROUGH B. I. 3].
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 1366. Fyges, and many a date tree There wexen … Thorough the gardyn in length and brede.
1485. Caxton, Chas. Gt., I. II. v. 30. Charles … sente oueral thorugh hys empyre.
1535. Coverdale, Acts xiv. 23. Whan they had ordeyned them Elders by eleccion thorow all the congregacions.
a. 1635. Bp. Corbet, Poems (1807), 12. Send of this stuffe thy territories thorough To Ireland, Wales and Scottish Eddenborough.
1678. Cudworth, Intell. Syst., I. iv. § 18. 343. Which Supreme Incorporeal Deity, was … said to be All Things, because it diffused it self thorough All.
1803. Wordsw., Yarrow Unvisited, v. O’er hilly path and open Strath We’ll wander Scotland thorough.
† c. Phrase. Thorough all thing: see THROUGH prep. 3 c. Obs.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7549. Þis noble duc willam him let crouny king At londone amid winter day, nobliche þoru alle þing.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 1926. Charlis, þat is of fraunce kyng … Hoteþ þe þorw alle þyng to leuen þyn errour.
4. From beginning to end of a space of time; = THROUGH prep. 4. Also following the sb.
a. 1000, etc. [see THROUGH B. I. 4].
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxvii. 14. All the night thorow with a light of fyre.
1608. Dod & Cleaver, Expos. Prov. ix.–x. 7. Thorow the whole yeere.
1896. A. E. Housman, Shropshire Lad, xvii. Twice a week the winter thorough [rhyme sorrow] Here stood I.
† 5. From beginning to end of a process, action, writing, etc., esp. to the very end of; = THROUGH prep. 5, 5 c. Obs.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., I. i. 7. Weelnyȝ thoruȝ al the chapiter, Poul meeneth [etc.].
1628. Wither, Brit. Rememb., 243. At the last God brought me thorow all My doubts and feares.
1632. Sanderson, Serm., 61. I foresaw we should not haue time to goe thorow all that was intended.
6. Indicating intermediation, means, agency, instrumentality; = THROUGH prep. 7. arch. or Obs.
a. 800–1154. [see THROUGH B. I. 7].
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 33. Þe engel … seweð a whilche wise and þuregh hwam þis blisse cumen sholde.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1395. Thoro birth of a blisful child.
1377. [see A.].
1456. Coventry Leet Bk., 289. The blessyd babe … Thurrowe whom pece & tranquilite shall take þis reme on hand.
1535. Coverdale, Josh. xxiv. 12. Not thorow thy swerde, ner thorow thy bowe.
1671. Flavel, Fount. Life, xiii. 37. By Vertue of the Mediator and thorow the Benefit of his Death.
1847. Emerson, Poems, Sphinx. Thorough a thousand voices Spoke the universal dame.
† b. Indicating the agent after a passive verb; = THROUGH prep. 7 b. Obs.
a. 900–c. 1000. [see THROUGH B. I. 7 b].
c. 1290. Beket, 374, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 117/374. Þe churche … Þat … was … a-rerd þoruȝ henri þe oþur kingue.
a. 1325. MS. Rawl. B., 520, lf. 32 b. Hit is icomaunded þoru þe King þat eche man habbe in house wepne.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. IV. 2. Þorw bedeles and bailifs brouht by-fore þe kynge.
† 7. Indicating cause, reason, or motive; = THROUGH prep. 8. Obs.
a. 1000–c. 1460. [see THROUGH B. I. 8].
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 11320. Þe king hadde þer to gode wille þoru frerene rede.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Anel. & Arc., 271. Þe swerde of sorowe byte My woofull harte þorowe your creweltee.
1596. Danett, trans. Comines (1614), 236. He ended his life thorow a sickenes.
1666. H. Stubbe, Mirac. Conform., 3. His life seemed burthensome to him thorough the violence of the … temptation.
II. adverb. (Now arch. or dial.)
1. From side to side, from surface to surface, from end to end (of a body or space); = THROUGH adv. 1.
a. 1000–c. 1400. [see THROUGH B. II. 1].
a. 1300, 1330. [see thorough-bear, -bore in THOROUGH- 1].
c. 1493. Epitaffe, etc. in Skelton’s Wks. (1843), II. 392. Thorow thrylled and persyd with payne.
1638. Junius, Paint. Ancients, 227. We doe not make our plate so thinne as to … cut it quite thorough with engraving.
1672. Marvell, Reh. Transp., I. 42. If he meet them in the dark, he runs them thorow.
a. 1713. Ellwood, Autobiog. (1765), 184. I walked it thorow in a Day.
1883. Swinburne, Cent. Roundels, Sorrow, ii. One thought lies close in her heart gnawn thorough [rhyme furrow] With pain.
† b. To the end of the journey, all the way; = THROUGH adv. 1 b. Obs.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 73. You should have begged me of him to have gon quite thorough with you. Ibid., 176. How he got thorow to whither he intended.
2. From beginning to end (of a time, process, action, work, book); = THROUGH adv. 2. arch.
a. 1225. [see thorough-fill in THOROUGH- 1].
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 777. Sithence he had once begonne, he would stoutly go thorowe.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Concern. Service. They were onely begon, and neuer read thorow.
1670–1. Marvell, Corr., Wks. (Grosart), II. 371. The Committee of Conventicles have … gone thorow with their Bill.
1748. Chesterf., Lett., 26 July. They … never consider it in all its different views; and, in short, never think it thorough.
1843. Carlyle, Past & Pr., III. xv. (trans. Goethe). The Future hides in it Gladness and sorrow; We press still thorow.
† 3. Predicatively, after the vb. to be, indicating settlement; = THROUGH adv. 3 b. Obs.
1467. J. Paston, in P. Lett., II. 299. He is owtlawyd at Sir John Fastolfys swte … notwithstanding he is thorow with Sir T. Howys for Sir John Fastolf.
1482. Cely Papers (Camden), 88. I gawhe the exchetter xls for ws bothe and so whe be thorow with hym for aull matters.
4. Qualifying pa. pple. or adj.; = THROUGH adv. 4 a. Obs. or dial.
Now usually expressed by THOROUGHLY, except when hyphened to a pa. pple., as thorough-bred; see THOROUGH- 1. In 17–18th c. also hyphened to adjs.
a. 1240. Ureisun, 123, in Cott. Hom., 197. Mid swuþe luðere lasten mi soule is þuruh bunden.
1474. Coventry Leet Bk., 401. Þat it be thorough tannyd and thorowe Coryed.
1531. Tindale, Exp. 1 John i. (1538), 14 b. Yet is it neuer thorow whole vntyll the houre of death.
1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., II. 38. When it is thorough hot.
1620. Venner, Via Recta, vii. 120. The sweet Grapes … being thorow ripe.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., I. 37. When he [the patient] saw that he was thorow well.
1640. Fuller, Joseph’s Coat, David’s Punishm. (1867), 239. Thou art not yet so thorough worn with age.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, ccii. (1714), 219. The Lion himself was not Thorough-Proof against this Fantastical Alarum.
1702. C. Mather, Magn. Chr., III. III. (1852), 560. They had thorow-good reasons for doing so.
1710. Prideaux, Orig. Tithes, iv. 208. A Veteran and thorough settled Constitution of this Kingdom.
1729. Butler, Serm., Wks. 1874, II. 82. A thorough honest man would … have repeated his former answer.
a. 1774. Goldsm., Hist. Greece, II. 112. He had a thorough good opinion of himself.
1796. C. Marshall, Garden., xiv. (1813), 192. Till the earth is got thorough warm again.
1853. Miss Yonge, Heir of Redclyffe, xliv. He is a thorough great man.
† 5. Thorough and thorough = through and through: see THROUGH adv. 5. Obs.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xvi. 58. With his swerd he broched the hors … thorow and thorow.
1526. Tindale, John xix. 23. The coote was with out seme woven vppon thorowe and thorowe.
1658. Cleveland, Rustick Ramp., Wks. (1687), 446. Richard might have been struck thorough and thorough.
† 6. With ellipsis of go, get, pass, or other vb. of motion; = THROUGH adv. 6. Obs.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 31. Trench hedge and forrow, that water may thorow.
1670. Cotton, Espernon, II. VII. 339. We are now come too far … to return…, we must either thorow, or dye.
