Etymograph

English

intrepid

Intrepid comes from French intrépide ‘intrepid, fearless’, from Latin trepidus ‘anxious, nervous’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *trep- ‘to tremble’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*trep-‘to tremble’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrepidus‘anxious, nervous’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrepidus‘fearless, unshaken, undaunted, intrepid’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentintrépide‘intrepid, fearless’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2000intrepid

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*trep-‘to tremble’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrepidus‘anxious, nervous’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrepidus‘fearless, unshaken, undaunted, intrepid’
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentintrépide‘intrepid, fearless’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2000intrepid

Earliest quotation: 2000, Lennard Bickel: “Fewer than 70 years earlier, the intrepid James Cook…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *trep- ‘to tremble’

trophy, thrive, trope, tropic, troubadour, turpitude, contrive, 31 more

through Latin trepidus ‘anxious, nervous’

trepidation, 1 more

Today it means

adj Fearless; bold; brave.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *trep- / intrepid

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