intimidate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin intimidō (“to frighten, make afraid”), through its past participle stem,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} formed from Latin in- and timidus (“fearful”), the source of timid,^[2][5][8][7] which comes from timeō (“to fear”), a word of uncertain origin.^[5] The OED compares French intimider, recorded in the 16th century.^[2][5] Dictionaries differ over the prefix: most take it as the prefix meaning "in",^[5][7][6] the American Heritage Dictionary as a causative prefix,^[8] and Skeat as an intensive one.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make timid, to fill with fear: 1646, in H. Lawrence's Of Communion and Warre with Angels.^[2][4][6] Etymonline gives the 1640s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was simply to frighten or overawe; in modern use the verb came to mean especially to force someone to do, or not to do, something by threats or violence.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as to make fearful or cowardly, quoting his own play Irene.^[10] The noun intimidation followed in 1658, in Phillips's dictionary, probably on the model of French.^[6][2] In law, intimidation came to mean the wrongful use or threat of violence to make someone act, or not act, against their legal right.^[5]

Timeline

• 1646 – to make timid, inspire with fear.^[2][4]
• 1658 – the noun intimidation.^[2][6]
• 1755 – in Johnson's Dictionary: to make fearful, to dastardize.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make someone timid or afraid; to frighten or overawe: The size of the crowd intimidated the young singer.^[11][4][2]
2. To force someone into, or keep them from, an action by threats or violence: The gang tried to intimidate witnesses into silence.^[11][2][3]

Word family

• intimidatingly
• intimidation
• intimidator

Related words

• intimidatory
• timid
• timidity
• timorous

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins