Where does “terror” come from?
terror (Latin) comes from Latin faciō, from Latin -torium, from Latin -tōrius, from Latin -tor, from Proto-Italic -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tōr, from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s.
terror (Latin): a dread, terror, great fear, alarm, panic; an...
Definitions
- a dread, terror, great fear, alarm, panic; an...
Ancestry of “terror”, step by step
terror traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin faciō
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | faciō | to do |
| 2 | Latin | -torium | nominative neuter singular of -tōrius; accusative... |
| 3 | Latin | -tōrius | ory |
| 4 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |
via Latin terreō
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | terreō | to frighten, terrify, alarm |
| 2 | Proto-Indo-European | tres- | to tremble |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | ter- | tender, weak; young creature |
| 4 | Italian | termine | end, close; limit, term, date, time; term, word |
| 5 | Latin | terminus | a boundary, limit, end |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | termenos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | térmn̥ | boundary, end |