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formidabilis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word formidabilis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
43 BC–18 AD, Ovid
Ultimate origin
Latin formīdō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin formido
Latin formidabilis
French formidable
From the same root
Latin formidolosus ← formido
Latin reformido ← formido

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɔr.miːˈdaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [for.miˈdaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

formīdābilis (neuter formīdābile); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin formīdō (“to fear”) + -bilis, from the verb ⟨formīdō⟩, which is formed on the noun formīdō (“fear, dread”).[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL dates it from Ovid, who in the Metamorphoses says of a sluggish snake that it had frightened no one.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic and post-classical word for what inspires fear, terrible or frightening;[6][2] Gellius and Seneca use it in prose, and Statius has the neuter as an adverb, “laughing terribly”.[6][5]

Medieval writers used it of fearsome peoples, rulers and punishments,[7][8] and the MLW also records it in the sense “fearful, timid”.[8] Through Old French formidable it gave English formidable, recorded from the mid-15th century.[3]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the Metamorphoses.[4][9]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a terrifying appearance and sound.[6][9]
  • 796 – Alcuin calls the Huns terrible in their ancient savagery.[7]
  • mid-15th century – English borrows it through French as formidable.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Inspiring fear, terrifying, formidable.[2][6]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Fearful, timid.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Formidabilis.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/formidabilis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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