Etymograph

English

thurse

Thurse comes from Middle English thurs ‘a demon’, from Proto-West Germanic *þuris ‘giant, monster’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tur-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tur-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þurisaz‘giant, name of the Þ-rune’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þuris‘giant, monster’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þyrs‘giant, enchanter, demon, wizard’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thurs‘a demon’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010thurse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tur-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*þurisaz‘giant, name of the Þ-rune’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þuris‘giant, monster’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150þyrs‘giant, enchanter, demon, wizard’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thurs‘a demon’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2010thurse

Earliest quotation: 2010, Stephan Grundy, Beowulf (Fiction): “And yet he was also, though many generations separated…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *tur-

Today it means

noun A giant; a gigantic spectre; an apparition.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tur- / thurse

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