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Origin and history of thread

thread(n.)

"fine twisted filament of cotton, flax, etc., spun out to considerable length;" Old English þræd "fine cord, especially when twisted," from Proto-Germanic *thredu- "twisted yarn" (source also of Old Saxon thrad, Old Frisian thred, Middle Dutch draet, Dutch draad, Old High German drat, German Draht, Old Norse þraðr).

This is held to have meant originally "twisted," and be from a suffixed form of the PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn." The Old English noun thus is related to þrawan "to twist," source of throw (v.).

Extended by 1640s to "that which runs through the whole course of something." Figuratively, "single element in a composite fabric" (abstract or material) it is attested by 1836. The meaning "prominent spiral ridge of a screw" is attested from 1670s.

The silk line, as spun by the worm, is about the 5000th part of an inch thick; but a spider's line is perhaps six times finer, or only the 30,000th part of an inch in diameter, insomuch, that a single pound of this attenuated substance might be sufficient to encompass our globe. [John Leslie, "Elements of Natural Philosophy," Edinburgh, 1823]

Nuts and bolts you know as little things that put big things together. Actually, our whole industrial civilization hangs by a thread—a screw thread. [Popular Science, March 1949]

Threads, slang for "clothes" is 1926, American English.

thread(v.)

mid-14c., threden, "put thread through the eye of a needle," from thread (n.). By 1873 of sewing machines; in reference to film cameras from 1913. Hence also figuratively, "pass through with the carefulness of one threading a needle." By 1590s as "furnish (a screw) with a thread."

The dancing move called thread the needle is attested by that name from 1844; thread-needle as a children's game is by 1751; threading needles as a dancing or acrobatic feat is 17c. Related: Threaded; threading. Threader as a surname is attested from mid-14c., "one who makes bowstrings."

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to thread

throw(v.)

"to hurl, fling, propel," early 13c., throuen, from Old English þrawan "to twist, turn, writhe, curl," (past tense þreow, past participle þrawen, geþrawen), from Proto-Germanic *threw- (source also of Old Saxon thraian, Middle Dutch dræyen, Dutch draaien, Old High German draen, German drehen "to turn, twist;" not found in Scandinavian or Gothic). This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *tere- (1) "to rub, turn," with derivatives referring to twisting.

Not the usual Old English word for "to throw" (weorpan, related to warp (v.) was common in this sense). The sense evolution may be via the notion of whirling a missile before throwing it. The "twist, turn" senses in the English word survived in dialect and technical use.

As "emit, send forth" beams of light, etc., late 14c. In wrestling, "cast or pull to the ground," c. 1300. As "deliver" (a blow, punch) from late 15c. The sense of "put by force" (as in throw in jail) is attested by 1550s.

Of a horse shedding itself of a rider, from 1530s. Of a domestic animal, "produce offspring, drop, give birth," by 1845. The meaning "confuse, flabbergast" is from 1844.

The transitive meaning "lose (a race, game) deliberately, allow another to win unnecessarily or by prior agreement" is by 1868, U.S. colloquial. To throw (someone) off "confuse by a false scent, put off the right track" is from 1891.

To throw a party was in U.S. college slang by 1916. To throw a switch is by 1930. To throw the book at (someone) is 1932, from notion of judge sentencing a criminal from a law book full of possible punishments.

To throw on "don" (armor, clothes) is from late 14c. To throw off "cast off or away, get rid of hurriedly or forcibly" is by 1610s. To throw up is from early 15c. in reference to a sigh; by 1670s as "give up, resign, abandon, cease to do;" by 1732 as "to vomit." To throw together "put together hastily or roughly" is from 1711.

threadbare(adj.)

late 14c., thred-bare, of garments, "worn-out, shabby," from thread (n.) + bare (adj.). The notion is of "having the nap worn off," leaving the foundation threads exposed. Figurative sense of "deficient" is by early 15c.

*tere-(1)

*terə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to rub, turn," with derivatives referring to twisting, also to boring, drilling, piercing; and to the rubbing of cereal grain to remove the husks, and thus to threshing.

It might form all or part of: atresia; attorn; attorney; attrition; contour; contrite; detour; detriment; diatribe; drill (v.) "bore a hole;" lithotripsy; return; septentrion; thrash; thread; thresh; throw; threshold; trauma; trepan; tribadism; tribology; tribulation; trite; triticale; triturate; trout; trypsin; tryptophan; turn.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit turah "wounded, hurt;" Greek teirein "to rub, rub away;" Latin terere "to rub, thresh, grind, wear away," tornus "turning lathe;" Old Church Slavonic tiro "to rub;" Lithuanian trinu, trinti "to rub," Old Irish tarathar "borer," Welsh taraw "to strike."