Tho

Part of speech: conjunction, adverb

Definitions

1. Introducing a contrasting point, meaning despite the fact that something is true ; used at the end of a sentence to mean nevertheless or however
2. Expressing a contrast with what was just said, even if or although ; placed after a clause to add a qualifying remark meaning however
3. Used to introduce a concession, meaning in spite of the fact that ; an informal way of adding a counterpoint, meaning nevertheless

Etymology: Most people meet "tho" only as a casual spelling of "though", but it began as a separate word with a different family history. In Middle English, "tho" and "tha" were forms of the old word for "then" or "when", descended from the same Germanic root that gives German "da" ("then, thereupon"). The word was also used for "those", the plural of "that", and that plural sense is why it became a doublet of "they", the two words sharing one ancestor that split into separate forms in English. The spelling "tho" as a substitute for "though" is a different matter. It is a simplified reform spelling that grew popular in American English in the earlier 20th century, part of a wider push to shorten common words by dropping letters, as with "thru" for "through". Like "thru", it never fully took hold in formal writing, though it survives in informal contexts and wherever brevity matters.

Synonyms: though, although