throe

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• Received-Pronunciation: /θɹəʊ/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /θɹoʊ/
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• homophone: throw
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• rhymes with -əʊ
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The noun is probably derived partly: * 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: ** 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 ** Old English þrōwian (“to endure, suffer”), from Proto-Germanic *þrōwijaną, probably from *þrawō (see above); and ** Old Norse þrá (“longing, yearning”), from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (see above); and * 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). 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”). The verb is derived: * from the noun; and * perhaps from Middle English throuen (verb) (see above).

Perhaps a variant of froe.

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Aramaic: ܚܒܠܐ (ḥeḇlā) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Bulgarian: спазъм (spazǎm) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Dutch: stuiptrekking — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Finnish: kouristus — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• French: agonie — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• German: Agonie — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• German: Krampf — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• German: Wehen — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Ancient Greek: ὠδῑ́ς (ōdī́s) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Russian: му́ки (múki) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Russian: предсме́ртная аго́ния (predsmértnaja agónija) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Russian: спазм (spazm) — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Scots: thraw — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Spanish: agonía — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Spanish: dolor — severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die
• Armenian: երկունք (erkunkʻ) — pain of labour or childbirth
• Old Armenian: երկն (erkn) — pain of labour or childbirth
• Bulgarian: родилни болки (rodilni bolki) — pain of labour or childbirth
• Bulgarian: агония (agonija) — suffering of death
• Russian: вызыва́ть аго́нию (vyzyvátʹ agóniju) — to cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony
• Russian: терза́ть (terzátʹ) — to cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony
• Bulgarian: агонизирам (agoniziram) — to feel throes; to struggle in extreme pain