Etymologically
Log in

horrificus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 19:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [hɔrˈrɪ.fɪ.kʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [orˈriː.fi.kus][1]

Forms

horrificus (feminine horrifica, neuter horrificum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from horreō “to bristle, shudder” with the suffix -ficus “making”, from faciō.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨horreō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰr̥s-éh₁- (“to be stiff”).[4] Etymonline glosses it literally “making the hair stand on end”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius.[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant inspiring awe or horror, dreadful, frightful, as in Lucretius and Virgil, and once rough, shaggy, and Lewis & Short call it poetic and post-Augustan in prose, as in Gellius.[2][7][8]

British Medieval Latin used it for fearsome and for loathsome.[9] English horrific (1650s) came through French horrifique or directly from Latin.[5]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[8][6]
  • 1650s – English horrific is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Dreadful, frightful, horrific.[2]
  2. Rough, shaggy.[2]

Word family

  • horrificō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ 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