also: いうとも
even though; despite; notwithstanding
Formal or literary concessive expression meaning 'even if one says...' or 'even though'. Often follows nouns or clauses, and can be used in set phrases like たとえ～いえども.
Even a child cannot escape responsibility.
No matter how difficult it may be, I will see it through to the end.
Rare kanji form; mainly encountered in older texts.
Obsolete kana form; not used in modern Japanese.
Derived from the classical Japanese verb 言ふ (いう, 'to say') in its 已然形 (realis form) 言へ (いえ) + the concessive particle ども, literally 'even if one says'. The form いうとも is an older variant.