πανικός

Forms

πᾱνῐκός (pānikós) m (feminine πᾱνῐκή, neuter πᾱνῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek Πάν (Pā́n) + -ικός (-ikós), “belonging to Pan”, from the name of the god Pan.^[1][2][3] The sense “panic” comes from the fear that Pan was believed to cause: the noises heard in the mountains and valleys were put down to him.^[2][4] Πάπυρος adds that from the Hellenistic period the word described the terror and confusion that the god's appearance caused among flocks.^[5]

The English word panic comes from it through French panique; in the sense “fright” the Greek word is short for a phrase meaning “a fear sent by Pan”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first found in Polybius, in the 2nd century BC, who uses the neuter as a noun for a sudden panic that falls on soldiers.^[7][3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Hellenistic and Roman-period prose it stays a word for groundless, sudden fear, above all among troops: Diodorus Siculus speaks of “the uproar called panic”, Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses the neuter plural, Josephus writes of a “panic fear”, and Plutarch of a panic confusion in an army.^[7][2][3] Cicero, writing Greek words into his Latin letters, used the neuter for a startling, baseless rumour.^[7] The plain sense “of Pan” is also found: Lucian speaks of a spring of Pan.^[7][2] Pape explains the panic fright as a sudden fear whose cause is not at once apparent.^[10]

In Modern Greek the masculine has become a learned noun, Modern Greek πανικός (panikós), for intense fear before a real or expected danger, while the adjective still means “of Pan”.^[4][11][5] English took the adjective about 1600, through French, and the noun panic in 1708.^[6]

Timeline

• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the neuter as a noun for panic among soldiers.^[7][3][9]
• 1st century BC – Diodorus Siculus writes of the “so-called panic” uproar, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses the neuter plural in the same sense.^[7][2][9]
• 1st century AD – Josephus speaks of a “panic fear”.^[7][2][9]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of the confusion that strikes an army without warning.^[7][3][9]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian uses it in its literal sense, of a spring belonging to Pan.^[7][2][9]
• About 1600 – English takes the adjective panic, through French, and in 1708 the noun.^[6]
• Modern Greek – The learned noun πανικός (panikós) means intense fear that paralyses a person or a crowd.^[4][11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to Πάν (Pā́n).^[7][3][12]
2. Of fear: sent by Pan, and so sudden and groundless; panic.^[7][3][10]

Noun

1. (neuter, as a noun) A panic, especially one that seizes soldiers.^[7][3][12]
2. (neuter, as a noun) A startling, baseless rumour.^[7]

Related words

• English panic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
5. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
10. ^ a b Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
11. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
12. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli