English
threshold
Threshold comes from Middle English threschwolde ‘a door-sill’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500threschwolde‘a door-sill’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598threshold
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500threschwolde‘a door-sill’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598threshold
Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my…”
The story
Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, turn’
turn, tournament, throw, tragic, thread, trout, detrimental, tyrone, detriment, detour, attrition, tourney, triage, trite, termite, tribulation, detritus, tourniquet, truant, tyro, derma, 43 more
through Proto-Germanic *þreskaną ‘to thresh’
Today it means
noun The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English threschwolde / threshold