Where does “throw” come from?

Throw comes from Middle English throwe and thrawe, Old English þrāwu, and Proto-Indo-European terh₁-, a root meaning to twist or turn.

throw (English): To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly...

Definitions

  1. To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly...

Ancestry of “throw”, step by step

throw traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English throwen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishthrowento throw
2Old Englishþrāwanto turn, twist, wind; to turn, twist, curl, rack,...
3Proto-West Germanicþrāanto twist
4Proto-Germanicþrēanąto twist, to turn
5Proto-Indo-Europeanterh₁-to rub, turn; to drill, pierce

via Old English þrāh

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishþrāh—

Words derived from “throw”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European terh₁- →Every word from Proto-Germanic þrēaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic þrāan →