scream

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skɹiːm/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English screamen, earlier scræmen (about 1175) and shreamen,^[2] a word of uncertain origin.^[3][2][4] It may continue an unrecorded Old English verb, or come from a related Middle Dutch or Old Frisian word;^[5][6] compare Old Norse skræma (“to terrify, scare away”) and skramsa, to scream, Middle Dutch schremen and Flemish schreemen, to scream.^[3][2][7] The AHD suggests a Scandinavian origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To utter a shrill, piercing cry: about 1175 as scræmen in Barnhart,^[2] before 1200 in the OED.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Of birds and beasts making their shrill cry, the verb is from about 1340,^[9] and of inanimate things, such as fiddle music, from 1784.^[3][9] The noun, a piercing cry, is from about 1500 in Etymonline and before 1460 in Barnhart.^[3][2] A cause of laughter, a very amusing person or thing, is colloquial from 1888.^[3][9] The sense to communicate something strongly is by 1957.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – scræmen, to cry shrilly.^[2]
• c. 1340 – of birds and beasts.^[9]
• before 1460 – the noun.^[2]
• 1784 – of inanimate things.^[3][9]
• 1888 – an amusing person or thing.^[9]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To give a long, loud, piercing cry, as from pain or fear.
2. To make a loud, piercing sound.
3. To speak or shout in a wild or hysterical manner.
4. To laugh wildly.

Noun

1. A long, loud, piercing cry or sound.
2. (informal) A person or thing that is very funny.

Word family

• screamingly
• primal scream

Related words

• shriek
• screech

Usage notes

The AHD distinguishes scream, which suggests a prolonged cry showing suffering or strong emotion, from shriek and screech, which are shriller.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ 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
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin