From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
Meanings
Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
Which elſe to ſeveral Sphears thou muſt aſcribe, / Mov'd contrarie with thwart obliquities, / Or ſave the Sun his labour, and that ſwift / Nocturnal and Diurnal rhomb ſuppos'd, / Inviſible elſe above all Starrs, the Wheele / Of Day and Night; […] 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 768–773:
(dated, figuratively) Of people: having a tendency to oppose; obstinate, perverse, stubborn.
[…] and it is without all controuerſie, that learning doth make the minds of men gentle, generous, maniable, and pliant to gouernment; whereas Ignorance makes them churliſh, thwart, and mutinous; […] 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 11, recto:
[…] harke Nature, heare deere Goddeſſe, ſuſpend thy purpoſe, if thou did'ſt intend to make this creature fruitful into her wombe, conuey ſterility, drie vp in hir the organs of increaſe, and from her derogate body neuer ſpring a babe to honour her, if ſhee muſt teeme, create her childe of ſpleene, that it may liue and bee a thourt diſuetur'd^([sic – meaning disnatured]) torment to her, […] c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
(dated, figuratively) Of situations or things: adverse, unfavourable, unlucky.
bg напречен (placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse) · fi poikittainen (placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse) · cs příčný (placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse) · bg пречещ (having a tendency to oppose — see also obstinate, perverse) · bg неблагоприятен (having a tendency to oppose — see also obstinate, perverse) · bg кос (placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse) · es contestatario (having a tendency to oppose — see also obstinate, perverse) · es atravesado (placed or situated across something else — see also oblique, transverse) · ru неподдающийся (having a tendency to oppose — see also obstinate, perverse)
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
Meanings
(not-comparable, obsolete) Across the direction of travel or length of; athwart, crosswise, obliquely, transversely.
With adverſe blaſt up-turns them from the South / Notus and Afer black with thundrous Clouds / From Serraliona; thwart of theſe as fierce / Forth ruſh the Levant and the Ponent VVindes / Eurus and Zephir with their lateral noiſe, / Sirocco, and Libecchio. 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 701–706:
Translations (5)
bg косо (across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart) · cs křižmo (across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart) · fi poikittain (across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart) · bg напречно (across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart) · cs napříč (across the direction of travel or length of — see also athwart)
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
Meanings
A seat across a boat on which a rower may sit.
Jane Porter had been the first of those in the lifeboat to awaken the morning after the wreck of the Lady Alice. The other members of the party were asleep upon the thwarts or huddled in cramped positions in the bottom of the boat. 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 150:
When taking his seat in a boat, the learner should first observe that the thwart is firmly fixed, and that the mat upon it is securely tied to that part of it which is farthest from his rowlock. [1876–1879?], “Our Holiday. Rowing.—I.”, in The Popular Educator: A Complete Encyclopædia of Elementary, Advanced, and Technical Education, new and revised edition, volume IV, London; New York, N.Y.: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, […], →OCLC, page 32, column 2:
The fisherman sat on the aft thwart to row.
A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the beam (“breadth”) of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail.
A conſiderable number of thwarts were laid from gunwale to gunwale, to which they were ſecurely laſhed on each ſide, as a ſtrengthening to the boat [a canoe]. 1773, “Of the Canoes and Navigation of the Inhabitants of New Zealand; […]”, in John Hawkesworth, editor, An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, […] In Three Volumes, volume III, Printed for W[illiam] Strahan and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC, book II, page 58:
A well-made dugout canoe rarely needs a thwart.
My barge was sixty feet in length, and not more than twelve in the widest part; by taking away one thwart beam near the stern, laying a floor two feet below the gunwale, and raising an arched roof about seven feet above the floor, a commodious room was formed, fourteen feet long, and ten wide, with a closet behind it; […] 1800, Michael Symes, chapter VII, in An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, by the Governor-General of India, in the Year 1795, London: Printed by W[illiam] Bulmer and Co., […]; and sold by Messrs. G[eorge] and W[illiam] Nicol, […]; and J[ohn] Wright, […], →OCLC, page 223:
I looked down into the Old Town [a canoe]; there was no yoke, only a straight ash thwart. 2015, Cliff Jacobson, “Outfitting and Customizing Your Canoe”, in Canoeing Wild Rivers: The 30th Anniversary Guide to Expedition Canoeing in North America, 5th edition, Guildford, Conn.; Helena, Mont.: Falcon Guides, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 66:
(rare) An act of thwarting; something which thwarts; a hindrance, an obstacle.
mi kīato (seat across a boat) · uk ба́нка (seat across a boat) · es banco (de remeros) (seat across a boat) · pt banco (seat across a boat) · de Ruderbank (seat across a boat) · de Ducht (brace perpendicular to the keel) · mi keretū (seat across a boat) · ru ба́нка (seat across a boat) · haw nohona waʻa (seat across a boat) · gd tobhta (seat across a boat) · es bancada (seat across a boat) · mi paemanu (seat across a boat) · io benko (seat across a boat) · gl banco (seat across a boat) · fi tuhto (seat across a boat) · fr banc (seat across a boat) · he סַפְסַל (seat across a boat) · mi taumanu (seat across a boat) · bg седалка за гребеца (seat across a boat) · sv toft (seat across a boat) · pl ławka (seat across a boat) · nrf banc (seat across a boat) · it arcaccia (seat across a boat)
From Middle English thwerte, from the adjective thwert (“obstinate, perverse”), from Old Norse þvert, neuter of þverr (“transverse”).
Cognates
The English adjective is cognate with Danish tvær (“sullen, sulky”), Gothic 𐌸𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃 (þwairhs, “angry”), Middle Dutch dwers, dwars (modern Dutch dwars (“crosswise, transverse; slantwise, askew; stubbornly disobedient”)), Norwegian tvert, tvært, Old Frisian þweres, dwers (Saterland Frisian twars, West Frisian dwers, dwerz (“across, to the other side of; beyond”)), Middle Low German dwers, dwars (Low German dwars (“contrary; cross-grained”)), Old English þweorh (“transverse; perverse; angry, cross”), Old High German twer (Middle High German twer, quer, modern German quer (“crosswise; cross”)), Swedish tvär (“across, transverse; of a curve: sharp; immediate, sudden; grumpy, stubborn”). It is related to queer; also Proto-West Germanic *þwerh,
Meanings
(transitive) To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.
The police thwarted the would-be assassin.
If thou grieueſt that beeing the daughter of a Prince, and enuie thwarteth thée with ſuch hard exigents, thinke that royaltie is a faire marke; that Crownes haue croſſes when mirth is in Cottages; that the fairer the Roſe is, the ſooner it is bitten with Catterpillers; […] 1590, T[homas] L[odge], “Alindas Comfort to Perplexed Rosalynd”, in Rosalynde. Euphues Golden Legacie: […], London: […] Thomas Orwin for T. G[ubbin] and John Busbie, →OCLC, folio 13, recto:
The Underſtanding and Will never diſagreed; for the Propoſals of the one never thwarted the Inclinations of the other. 1662 November 9, Robert South, “[Sermon II] A Sermon Preached at the Cathedral-Church of St. Paul’s, November the 9th, 1662: Genesis i. 27. So God created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created He him.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 5th edition, volume I, London: Printed for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1722, →OCLC, page 60:
More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel. 2006, Edwin Black, “Power Struggle”, in Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, →OL:
Everton were now firmly on the back foot and it required some sharp work from Johnny Heitinga and Phil Jagielka to thwart [Theo] Walcott and Thomas Vermaelen. 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 – 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2011:
Hear ye the serf I bred, begin to reckon / Upon his rights and pleasure! Who am I— / Thou abject, who am I, whose will thou thwartest? 1830, Walter Scott, “Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy”, in The Doom of Devorgoil, a Melo-drama; Auchindrane; or, The Ayrshire Tragedy, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Company; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 309:
The film ends with the colorful deaths of Nico's enemies after he thwarts their attempts to assassinate a U.S. Senator investigating ties between drug dealers and the CIA. 2004, Peter Bondanella, “Wise Guys: Hollywood Italian Gangsters”, in Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos, New York, N.Y.: Continuum International Publishing Group, →ISBN, pages 231–232:
Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the thunderstorm.
Not unnaturally, "Auntie" took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 361:
(obsolete, transitive) To place (something) across (another thing); to position crosswise.
(also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive) To hinder or obstruct by placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.
(ambitransitive, obsolete) To move (something) across or counter to; to cross.
Thither came Uriel, gliding through the Eeven / On a Sun beam, ſwift as a ſhooting Starr / In Autumn thwarts the night, […] 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 555–557:
ca desbaratar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es empecer (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fr contrarier (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fi tehdä tyhjäksi (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · cs zmařit (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · mi whakahōtaetae (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es embarajar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ko 좌절시키다 (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · la officio (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · pl udaremniać (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · bg осуетявам (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · mi taitu (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · tr karşı koymak (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es desbaratar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · kmr rawestandin (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · kmr pûç kirin (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es entorpecer (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · cs zkřížit (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · hu meghiúsít (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · tr önlemeye çalışmak (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru расстро́ить (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · cs protnout (to move across) · he סיכל (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru мешать исполнению (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · mi ngihangiha (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · eo malsukcesigi (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · it sventare (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · nl dwarsbomen (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es chasquear (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ca frustrar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · mi taupare (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ja 排する (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru пересекать (to move across) · eo malhelpi (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · bg преча (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru препя́тствовать (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · pt frustrar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · de durchkreuzen (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · el ματαιώνω (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · de vereiteln (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · cmn 阻撓 /阻挠 (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ja 阻止する (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · tr akamete uğratmak (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ar أَحْبَطَ (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · de entgegenwirken (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · tr baltalamak (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · de konterkarieren (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · pt contrariar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru воспрепя́тствовать (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fi pysäyttää (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ar فَشَّلَ (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · pl przecinać (to move across) · cs zhatit (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · mn саад тотгор болох (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · bg пресичам (to move across) · kmr sekinandin (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ru расстра́ивать (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · it bloccare (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · th ขัดขวาง (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · cs překazit (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fi taltuttaa (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fr contrecarrer (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · ja 阻む (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · sv hindra (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · fi halkaista (to move across) · es dificultar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es obstaculizar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · es obstar (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure) · pl pokrzyżować (to prevent; to halt; to cause failure)