Etymograph

English

terror

Terror comes from Old French terreur ‘terror, fear, dread’, from Latin terreō ‘to frighten, terrify, alarm’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tres- ‘to tremble (with fear)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tres-‘to tremble (with fear)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*troséyeti‘to make scared, afraid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trozeō‘to frighten, scare, terrify’next step skipped: Old Latin tr̥reō
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterreō‘to frighten, terrify, alarm’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterror‘fright, fear, terror’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400terreur‘terror, fear, dread’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600terreur
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500terrour‘a terror’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1788terror

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tres-‘to tremble (with fear)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*troséyeti‘to make scared, afraid’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*trozeō‘to frighten, scare, terrify’next step skipped: Old Latin tr̥reō
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterreō‘to frighten, terrify, alarm’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEterror‘fright, fear, terror’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400terreur‘terror, fear, dread’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600terreur
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500terrour‘a terror’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1788terror

Earliest quotation: 1788, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Esq.: “The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from…”

Linked words

through Latin terreō ‘to frighten, terrify, alarm’

terrible, terribly, terrific, 5 more

Today it means

noun Intense dread, fright, or fear.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tres- / terror

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