Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “menace” come from?

Menace comes from Old French manecier, from Latin minax meaning threatening, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European men-.

menace (English): A perceived threat or danger; The act of...

Definitions

  1. A perceived threat or danger; The act of...

Ancestry of “menace”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishmanace—
2Old Frenchmenace—
3Latinminācia—
4Latinmināx—
5Latin-āx—
6Latin-iumSuffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes...
7Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
8Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
9Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “menace”

  • menacing
  • menacingly
  • menacer
  • unmenacing
  • menaceth
  • nonmenacing
  • unmenacingly
  • menacest
  • menacingness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →