Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “terror” come from?

Terror derives from Latin terror, a noun formed with the suffix -or from the Latin verb terrēre, meaning to frighten, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root ter-.

terror (English): Intense dread, fright, or fear; The action or...

Definitions

  1. Intense dread, fright, or fear; The action or...

Ancestry of “terror”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchterreurterror
2Latinterrora dread, terror, great fear, alarm, panic; an...
3Latinfaciō—
4Latin-toriumnominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative...
5Latin-tōrius—
6Latin-tor-er
7Proto-Italic-tōr—
8Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
9Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “terror”

  • terrorize
  • terrorise
  • terrorstricken
  • counterterror
  • antiterror
  • bioterror
  • terrorization
  • cyberterror
  • terrorstruck
  • terrorless
  • terrorizer
  • terrorful
  • narcoterror
  • ecoterror
  • megaterror
  • terrorizee
  • nonterror
  • terrorcore
  • terror
  • terrorhandling
  • terrorangrep
  • terror
  • terrortámadás
  • terror
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →