Where does “terrible” come from?

terrible (French) comes from Latin terribilis, from Latin terreō, from Proto-Indo-European tres-, from Proto-Indo-European ter-, from Italian termine, from Latin terminus, from Proto-Italic termenos, from Proto-Indo-European térmn̥ — boundary, end.

terrible (French): terrible; great, excellent

Definitions

  1. terrible; great, excellent

Ancestry of “terrible”, step by step

terrible traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin terribilis

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinterribilisfrightful, dreadful, terrible, horrible
2Latinterreōto frighten, terrify, alarm
3Proto-Indo-Europeantres-to tremble
4Proto-Indo-Europeanter-tender, weak; young creature
5Italiantermineend, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word
6Latinterminusa boundary, limit, end
7Proto-Italictermenos—
8Proto-Indo-Europeantérmn̥boundary, end

via Middle French terrible

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchterrible—

Words derived from “terrible”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European térmn̥ →Every word from Proto-Italic termenos →Every word from Proto-Indo-European ter- →