Where does “terrible” come from?
Terrible derives from Latin terribilis, formed from the Latin suffix -ibilis added to a root from Proto-Indo-European ter-, meaning to frighten or tremble.
terrible (English): Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear;...
Definitions
- Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear;...
Ancestry of “terrible”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | terrible | terrible |
| 2 | Old French | terrible | terrible |
| 3 | Latin | terribilis | frightful, dreadful, terrible, horrible |
| 4 | Latin | terreō | to frighten, terrify, alarm |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | tres- | to tremble |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ter- | tender, weak; young creature |
| 7 | Italian | termine | end, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word |
| 8 | Latin | terminus | a boundary, limit, end |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | termenos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | térmn̥ | boundary, end |