thorowly

Thorowly is an obsolete English adverb that served as a historical spelling variant of thoroughly, meaning completely or in a thorough manner. The form is primarily attested in early modern English texts dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, a period marked by wide variation in spelling and orthography. Today, thorowly is regarded as a historical form rather than a current word.

Etymology and orthography. Thorowly derives from the same morpheme as thoroughly, with the spelling reflecting inconsistent representations of the long vowel sounds and consonant clusters typical of the period. In early print and manuscript sources, spellings such as thorowly illustrate the lack of standardized conventions for the -ough/-ow sequence, a feature that contributed to multiple competing forms of the same word. The modern form thoroughly ultimately displaced thorowly in standard usage.

Usage and examples. Thorowly appears in quotations from historical texts rather than in contemporary prose. It functions identically to thoroughly, used to denote complete or exhaustive action or examination. A representative sense would be “to search thorowly through the records,” understood today as “to search thoroughly through the records.” Its occurrence is generally limited to scholarly editions, glossaries, or discussions of old orthography.

Modern status and references. In current English, thorowly is not in active use and is typically cited as a historical variant of thoroughly. Some dictionaries and linguistic references note thorowly as an archaic spelling, illustrating historical variation in early modern English orthography.