Etymologically
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threaten

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈθret.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English thretenen, inherited from Old English þrēatnian (“to urge, force, threaten”),[2][3][4] formed from þrēat (“coercion, threat”) (see threat) and a verb suffix.[2][3] The earlier verb threat, now archaic, is from þrēatian.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To press, urge or force: about 1000.[5] To try to influence someone with menaces: about 1290 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

To command with threats is from 1382.[5] Of things, to give an ominous sign of something is from 1611, to be likely to injure from 1638, and to seem likely to do harm from 1780.[5] Threatened, of wild species in danger of extinction, is by 1960.[2] In Yorkshire and Cheshire dialect to threaten meant to intend or promise, as to threaten to buy something.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – to urge, force.[5]
  • c. 1290 – to use threats.[5]
  • 1611 – to portend.[5]
  • 1638 – to be likely to injure.[5]
  • by 1960 – threatened species.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To express a threat against someone.
  2. To be a source of danger to; to menace.
  3. To give signs of; to portend: dark clouds threatened rain.
  4. To announce the possibility of something as a threat.

Word family

  • threatener
  • threateningly
  • outthreaten
  • rethreaten
  • threatening

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ 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)