afraid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈfreɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English affraied, the past participle of the now obsolete verb afray “to frighten”,^[2][3][4] used as an adjective after borrowed from Anglo-Norman afrayé,^[4][5] from Old French esfreer “to worry, disturb, frighten”,^[2][6] from Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, a hybrid meaning literally “to take out of peace”,^[2][7] from Latin ex- “out of” and Frankish *friþu (“peace”),^[2] from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace, forbearance”),^[2] from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *prī- (“to be friendly, to love”).^[2] Barnhart compares its formation with laid and said.^[6] It is related to fray and friend.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alarmed, frightened: 1330 in the OED,^[8] early 14th century in Etymonline,^[2] and about 1300 in Guy of Warwick according to Barnhart.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare case of an English adjective that never stands before a noun.^[2] Its use in the King James Bible gave it independent standing, so that it thrived while affray faded, and it drove out the once more common afeard.^[2][4] With of it is recorded from 1350,^[8] and with an infinitive, “not having the courage to”, from 1535.^[8] The polite I'm afraid, “I regret to say”, without any implication of fear, is recorded by the 1590s.^[2] In Irish and other dialect English it was used as a conjunction meaning “lest, for fear that”.^[9] Johnson thought it should properly be written with ff, as coming from affray.^[10]

Timeline

• 1330 – frightened.^[8]
• 1350 – afraid of.^[8]
• 1535 – not daring to.^[8]
• 1590s – I'm afraid, I regret to say.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Filled with fear.
2. Unwilling or reluctant: afraid of hard work.
3. Filled with regret or concern, used to soften an unwelcome statement: I'm afraid I can't come.

Word family

• unafraid

Related words

• affray
• fray
• afeard
• friend
• free
• Friday

Usage notes

The American Heritage sets afraid beside apprehensive and fearful, which share the central meaning “filled with fear”.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.