intimidation

Etymology

It is formed from English intimidate + -ion,^[2][3][4] probably on the model of French intimidation, recorded in French from the 16th century.^[3][2][4] Merriam-Webster takes the noun directly from French, from Middle French intimider.^[5][6] The verb, recorded from 1646, comes from Medieval Latin intimidātus, the past participle of intimidō (“to frighten, make afraid”),^[4][3][5][7] formed from in- (“in; causative prefix”) and Latin timidus (“fearful”),^[2][8][9][4] which comes from timeō (“to fear”).^[4] French had the verb intimider from the 16th century.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of making afraid, or the condition of being made afraid: first recorded in 1658, in Edward Phillips's dictionary The New World of English Words.^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to the 1650s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the verb, first recorded in 1646, by about a decade.^[2][3] At first it meant making someone timid in general; the OED notes that in modern use it means above all the use of threats or violence to force a person to do something or to stop them doing it.^[2] The Century Dictionary defined a legal sense: the wrongful use or threat of violence against a person to make them do, or not do, something they have a legal right to do or not do.^[4] Merriam-Webster illustrates it with voters kept from the polls.^[5]

Timeline

• 16th century – French intimidation and intimider.^[2][4]
• 1646 – the verb intimidate.^[2][5]
• 1658 – intimidation, in Phillips's dictionary.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of frightening someone, especially with threats or violence, to make them do or not do something: The striking miners complained of intimidation by the company's guards.^[5][2]
2. The state of being frightened or overawed.^[5][2]
3. (law) The wrongful use or threat of violence against a person to compel them to act or not to act as they have a legal right to.^[4]

Related words

• intimidate
• timid
• timidity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press