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exterreo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exterreo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tros-eie-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈstɛr.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈstɛr.re.o][1]

Forms

exterreō (present infinitive exterrēre, perfect active exterruī, supine exterritum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out”) and terreō (“to frighten”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨terreō⟩ to Proto-Italic *tros-eje- (“to scare”) and Proto-Indo-European *tros-eie- (“to make scared”), cognate with Umbrian tursitu (“let him scare”), Sanskrit त्रसन्ति (trásanti, “they tremble”) and Ancient Greek τρέω (tréō, “to tremble, flee”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius,[4] whose Annals, quoted by Cicero, have Ilia telling her dream in tears, “startled out of sleep”.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is to strike with terror, scare or frighten, and with an ablative to frighten out of something.[2][5] Lewis and Short note that Cicero and Caesar use it only in the passive, as Caesar's soldiers terrified by the sudden danger;[5] Tacitus has Germanicus frightening the legions with his look.[5] In Virgil a snake is roused or made wild by the heat.[5]

Church Latin keeps it as “frighten”.[6]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of a woman startled out of sleep.[5][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of fear at novelty.[5][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of soldiers terrified by a sudden danger.[5][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of legions frightened by a look.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To strike with terror, terrify, scare.[2][5][1][6]
  2. To frighten (out of).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exterreo.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exterreo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·