Talk:thoroughfare
I'd be curious as to why this word is NOT "Throughfare", which would make more sense. Is there any occurrence in print of "throughfare" and if so when is the LAST time it appeared? Are you allowed to quote from OED (which I can't get to) as to the first occurrence in print of "thoroughfare" with the "o"? And if someone has other details as to why this word comes to us as "thoroughfare" with the "o" and not "throughfare", please added it all.2603:7000:9906:A91C:1C64:8308:33BC:E2D6 17:36, 27 March 2021 (UTC)Christopher L. Simpson
Verb[edit]
Todo: add citations for thoroughfare as a verb, if they exist. One is at Citations:burgwall. 98.170.164.88 01:23, 18 May 2022 (UTC)
A highway?[edit]
The Collins dictionary has this: "A thoroughfare is a main road in a city or town which usually has stores along it and a lot of traffic."
This is what the term "thoroughfare" means to me. While the sense does not appear to be confined to land routes (e.g., it covers waterways), as far as roads are concerned the urban connotations seem important. Most dictionaries give "highway" as a "synonym", but this seems awkward. Would a national highway that traverses the country really be called a "thoroughfare"?. (I was curious to see автострада given as a translation in Russian. Would a "highway" or "freeway" really be regarded as a "thoroughfare"?) Would be interested to hear others' opinions.