thwerh (Old Saxon)
Where does "thwerh" come from?
The Old Saxon adjective 'thwerh' traces its roots to the Proto-Germanic term 'þwerhaz', which originally meant 'cross' or 'adverse'. This ancestor likely descends from the Proto-Indo-European root '*terkʷ-', meaning 'to turn' or 'to spin', a connection bolstered by links to Latin 'torqueō' which means 'to twist'. Through the Proto-West Germanic stage, the word evolved to represent concepts of being 'transverse', 'bent', or 'crooked', eventually informing related terms like Old English 'þweorh' and Dutch 'dwars'.
Full etymology tree
- thwerh (Old Saxon), 'contrary, against'
- inherited *þwerh (Proto-West Germanic), 'transverse, crooked'
- inherited *þwerhaz (Proto-Germanic), 'cross, adverse'
- inherited *térkʷos (Pre-Germanic)
- derived *terkʷ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to turn, spin'
- inherited *térkʷos (Pre-Germanic)
- inherited *þwerhaz (Proto-Germanic), 'cross, adverse'
- inherited *þwerh (Proto-West Germanic), 'transverse, crooked'
Ancestors
- *þwerh (Proto-West Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
- dwars (Dutch)
- þweorh (Old English)
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris