Etymology
1. c.1200,
throwe "pain, pang of childbirth, agony of death," possibly from O.E.
þrawan "twist, turn, writhe" (see throw), or altered from O.E.
þrea (gen.
þrawe) "affliction, pang, evil, threat" (related to
þrowian "to suffer"), from P.Gmc.
*thrawo (cf. M.H.G.
dro "threat," Ger.
drohen "to threaten"). Modern spelling first recorded 1615.
2. The noun is probably derived partly:
3. * from Middle English throu, throwe (“(chiefly in the plural) uterine contraction during the birth of a child; pain experienced while giving birth; suffering; a pain; emotional distress, anxiety”) [and other forms], perhaps from:
4. ** Old English þrawu (rare), a variant of þrēa (“affliction, torment; disaster; oppression; a rebuke; severity; threat”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrau, from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (“longing; suffering”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewh₁-; and
5. ** Old English þrōwian (“to endure, suffer”), from Proto-Germanic *þrōwijaną, probably from *þrawō (see above); and
6. ** Old Norse þrá (“longing, yearning”), from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (see above); and
7. * from Middle English throuen (“to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”) [and other forms], from Old English þrōwian (see above).
8. The current spelling of the word is a 16th-century variant of Middle English throu, throwe, perhaps to avoid confusion with throw (“act of turning or twisting; fit of bad temper or peevishness; look of anger, bad temper, irritation, etc., a grimace”).
9. The verb is derived:
10. * from the noun; and
11. * perhaps from Middle English throuen (verb) (see above).
Verbs referencing "throe"
Scots
thraw.