English
fearthought
Blend of fear + forethought.
A blend of fear + forethought
Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to go through’
Proto-Germanic *fērō ‘danger’
Old English fǣr ‘calamity’
Middle English feer
English fear
Proto-Indo-European *teng- ‘to think, feel, perceive, know’
…
Proto-West Germanic *þankijan ‘to think’
Old English þenċan ‘to think’
Old English foreþenċan
Middle English forethouht
English forethought
The story
Coined by Horace Fletcher as part of New Thought Movement at the turn of the twentieth century.
Today it means
noun Excessive and unhealthy apprehensiveness; unnecessary fearfulness.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / fearthought