'Throw' originally meant 'to twist' — the hurling sense came from the twisting arm motion. Potters still 'throw.'
To propel something through the air with a rapid movement of the arm and hand; to cause to move suddenly or forcefully.
From Old English 'þrāwan' meaning 'to twist, turn, wind, revolve,' from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (to twist, turn), from PIE root *terh₁- (to rub, turn, twist). The original meaning was not 'to propel through the air' but 'to twist or turn' — the throwing sense developed in Middle English from the twisting motion of the arm when hurling something, or possibly from the twisting motion used in wrestling (throwing an opponent). The older 'twisting' sense survives in 'thread' (twisted fibers) and 'throw' in pottery (
'Throw' originally meant 'to twist,' not 'to hurl.' This old sense survives in pottery: when a potter 'throws' a pot, they are shaping clay on a turning wheel — preserving the original meaning of the word from over a thousand years ago. 'Thread' is a cousin, literally meaning 'twisted thing.'