Etymograph

English

panic

Panic comes from Ancient Greek πανικός ‘pertaining to Pan’, and goes back to Πᾱ́ν.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΠᾱ́ν
  2. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπανικόςpanikós‘pertaining to Pan’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600panique
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1603panic

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΠᾱ́ν
  2. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπανικόςpanikós‘pertaining to Pan’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600panique
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1603panic

Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, Of Feare: “All things were there in a diſordered confuſion, and…”

The story

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots. Adjective sense 3 (‘pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright’) is partly an attributive use of the noun.

Every English word from Ancient Greek Πᾱ́ν

Another origin of panic

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)penh₁-‘to twist’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānis‘bread’uncertain
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpānicum‘Italian millet, foxtail millet, panicgrass’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500panik
  5. Englishtodaypanic

From Late Middle English panik, panyk (‘plant of the genus Panicum’), borrowed from Latin pānicum, pānīcum (‘foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica); plant of the genus Panicum, panicgrass’); further etymology uncertain, probably either from pānis (‘bread; loaf’) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (‘to graze; to protect; to shepherd’)) or pānus (‘ear of millet; thread wound on a bobbin’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- (‘to twist; to weave’)) + -cum (suffix forming neuter nouns).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Today it means

adj Of fear, fright, etc: overwhelming or sudden.

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

Etymograph / Ancient Greek Πᾱ́ν / panic

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