There isn't a 'through' in CakePHP code right now, but we reference [hasMany through](http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/models/associations-linking-models-together.html#hasmany-through-the-join-model) in the documentation. In rails 'through' is used in a similar way to how we use it in the documentation. I don't know if re-using an existing term is a wise, as it may confuse people.