English
threatening
Threatening comes from Middle English thretenyng.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thretenyng
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592threatening
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thretenyng
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592threatening
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “Fie, fie, vnknit that thretaning vnkinde brovv, / And…”
Formed from threaten + -ing
Proto-Indo-European *trewd- ‘to push, to thrust’
Old English þrēatnian ‘to urge, force, compel’
Middle English thretenen
English threaten
Every English word from Middle English thretenyng
Another origin of threatening
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500thretenyng
- Englishtodaythreatening
Today it means
verb Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English thretenyng / threatening