tho
English
Pronunciation
- (when stressed)
- (UK) IPA(key): /ðəʊ/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ðoʊ/
- Rhymes: -əʊ
- (when unstressed)
- (West Country) IPA(key): /ðə/
- Homophone: the
Etymology 1
From Middle English tho, tha, from Old English þā (“the, those”, plural), from Proto-Germanic *þai (“those”), from Proto-Indo-European *to-, *só (“that”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian do (“the”, plural).
Article
tho
- (obsolete, West Country) The (plural form); those.
Pronoun
tho
- (obsolete) Those; they.
Etymology 2
From Middle English tho, tha, from Old English þā (“then, when”), from Proto-Germanic *þa- (“that”), from Proto-Indo-European *to-, *só (“that”). See also German da (“then, thereupon”).
Adverb
tho (not comparable)
- (now dialectal) Then; thereupon.
- 1481, William Caxton, The History Reynard the Foxː
- Tho went I near and found Master Reynard, that had left that he first read and sang, and began to play his old play.
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], OCLC 606515406; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, OCLC 890162479:
- Tho to a hill his faynting flocke he ledde.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
- Tho, her avizing of the vertues rare / Which thereof spoken were, she gan againe / Her to bethink of that mote to her selfe pertaine.
- 1642, Henry More, Song Soulː
- Tho I gan closely on his person look.
- 1481, William Caxton, The History Reynard the Foxː
Conjunction
tho
- (dialectal) When.
Etymology 3
Mostly found in American English; alteration of though. Compare tho'.
Adverb
tho (not comparable)
- (informal, chiefly US) Alternative spelling of though
- 2009, John Hough, Seen the Glory: A Novel of the Battle of Gettysburg, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 121:
- I wonder now when I will find time to read it but it is a treasure anyway tho heavy in my knapsack, …
-
Anagrams
- -oth, HOT, OTH, hot, o'th', oth
Crimean Gothic
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *sa, *sō, *þat.
Article
tho
- the
- 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
- omnibus vero dictionibus praeponebat articulum tho aut the
- but to all utterances one prefixes the article tho or the
- omnibus vero dictionibus praeponebat articulum tho aut the
- 1562, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
Usage notes
While it is likely that Crimean Gothic retained grammatical gender, de Busbecq's letter does not mention which articles are used with which words, making it impossible to reconstruct their gender.
Middle English
Article
tho
- the
- c. 1449-1455, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting of the Clergie
- sithen if tho thre be sufficiently improued , that is to seie , if it be sufficientli proued that tho thre ben noust and vntrewe and badde
- c. 1449-1455, Reginald Pecock, Represser of over-much weeting of the Clergie
Old Saxon
Adverb
thô
- then
Scots
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /θoː/
Adverb
tho (not comparable)
- though, however
Welsh
Noun
tho
- Aspirate mutation of to.
Mutation
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
to | do | nho | tho |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |