fear

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fɪə/, US /fɪr/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fere,^[2][3] inherited from Old English fǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *fērą (“danger”),^[2][5] the source also of Old Saxon vār “ambush”, Old High German fāra “ambush, danger”, German Gefahr and Dutch gevaar “danger”, and Old Norse fár “harm, misfortune”;^[6][3][7] Gothic fērja “one who lies in wait, spy” is derived from it.^[3][4] Watkins and Barnhart take it to Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to try, risk”), with Latin perīculum “trial, danger” and experīrī “to try” and Greek peîra “trial”,^[2][3] but Hoad finds the further connections unknown.^[6] The verb is inherited from Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran “to terrify”, from the noun.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English fǣr, “danger, peril”, is found about 725 in Beowulf;^[3] it meant the calamity itself, not the emotion it caused.^[5] The Old English verb fǣran meant “to frighten”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “uneasiness caused by possible danger”, the state of being afraid, developed by the late 12th century^[2][8] (about 1280 in Barnhart's earliest Middle English example).^[3] Old English had used fyrhto and the verb ondrǣdan for that feeling.^[2] The dread and reverence felt toward God is from about 1400.^[2][8] The verb's intransitive sense, “to feel fear”, is from the late 14th century,^[2] while the old sense “to frighten” survived only in archaic and dialect use;^[8][9] it has been revived in video games for “fear” spells.^[2] To put the fear of God into someone, “to intimidate”, is by 1888.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English fǣr, danger.^[3]
• c. 1000 – verb, to frighten.^[8]
• c. 1175 – the emotion of fear.^[8]
• late 14th century – verb, to feel fear.^[2]
• c. 1400 – the fear of God.^[2][8]
• 1888 – to put the fear of God into.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An unpleasant feeling of anxiety caused by the presence or threat of danger.
2. A feeling of worry or apprehension about something.
3. Deep reverence or awe, as toward God.
4. A cause of dread.

Verb

1. To be afraid of.
2. To be worried about; to expect with alarm: fear the worst.
3. To be in awe of; to revere.
4. (archaic) To frighten.

Word family

• fearer
• fearful
• fearless
• fearmonger
• fearsome
• God-fearing

Related words

• afraid
• peril
• experiment
• expert
• empirical

Usage notes

Fear is the most general word for the feeling of agitation in the face of danger;^[10] dread adds a reluctance to face what is feared, and fright is sudden, usually brief fear.^[10]

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 m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin