scare English · revision 10240

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=non skirra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skɛə/ ''(UK)''; /skɛɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of Middle English skerren, to frighten,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|non|skirra|t=to frighten; to shrink from, shun]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Old Norse skjarr, shy, timid,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) a word of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline calls the change of vowel unusual;^(Etymonline) Scots skair and dialect skeer, skear seem closer to the expected development.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To frighten: about 1200, in the Ormulum.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The modern spelling scare appears in 1591, in Shakespeare's ''Henry VI, Part 1''.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Scare up'', in American English from 1846, first meant to frighten game out of cover, hence to bring to light or procure.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun, earlier Middle English sker, fear (about 1400),^(Etymonline) was something that frightens, a scarecrow, in the 1520s, and a sudden panic or false alarm from the 1540s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Scare tactic'' is by 1948.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – skerren, to frighten.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1520s – something that frightens (noun).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – a sudden panic.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1591 – the spelling scare.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1846 – scare up.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1948 – scare tactic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fill with sudden [[fear]]; to frighten or [[alarm]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become frightened.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To drive away or off by frightening.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(scare up, informal)'' To find or put together, often with difficulty.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sudden fright.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A general state of alarm; a [[panic]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Meant to frighten people: ''scare tactics''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scarer]]

+ * [[scaringly]]

+ * [[scarehead]]

+ * [[scary]]

+ * [[scarecrow]]

+ * [[scared]]

+ * [[scaredy-cat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[skittish]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A scare is also an old golf term for the part of a club where the head joins the shaft, from Old Norse skǫr, a joint.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}