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perterreo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perterreo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*tros-eie-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin terreo
Latin perterreo
Latin deterreo
Latin terribilis
English terrible
French terrible
Latin terrificus
English terrific

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈtɛr.re.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈtɛr.re.o][1]

Forms

perterreō (present infinitive perterrēre, perfect active perterruī, supine perterritum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin per- (“thoroughly”) + terreō (“to frighten”).[2][3] De Vaan follows LIV in tracing ⟨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”), Ancient Greek τρέω (tréō, “to tremble, flee”) and Lithuanian trišė́ti (“to tremble”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL and de Vaan record it from Plautus on, followed by Terence and the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Perterreō is to frighten greatly, to terrify, and is used above all in the perfect participle perterritus, “terrified”: Cicero's metū perterritī and obstupefactus ac perterritus.[2][5] Caesar writes of terrifying others by the severity of punishments.[5] Servius notes that perterritus means no more than territus.[3] Church Latin glosses it “terrify greatly, intimidate, frighten”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, its first recorded use.[3][4][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[3][5][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of terrifying by punishment.[5][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: metū perterritī.[5][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To terrify, frighten greatly, intimidate.[2][1][6]

Word family

  • imperterritus
  • perterrefaciō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 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

“Perterreo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perterreo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·