terrificus Latin · revision 4629

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Lucretius|origins=la terreō, la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [tɛrˈrɪ.fɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [terˈriː.fi.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''terrificus''' (feminine terrifica, neuter terrificum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|terreō|-ficus|t1=to frighten]],^(OLD 2012) a compound of ''terreō'' and [[facio|alt=faciō]] “to make”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lucretius, describing the Curetes, speaks of their terrifying crests.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant causing terror, frightening, awe-inspiring, and was mainly poetic.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ovid uses it of Jupiter's terrifying hair, Virgil of prophets, and Valerius Flaccus of a rite.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In prose Pliny the Younger speaks of frightening prophecies, and Gellius of a terrifying roar.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ British medieval writers used it of terrifying commands.^(DMLBS) [[en|terrific]] is recorded in the 1660s, in Milton, as “frightening”; its sense “excellent” dates from 1888.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of terrifying crests.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of prophets.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a roar.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1660s – English ''terrific'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Frightening, [[m|en|terrifying]], [[m|en|awe-inspiring]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terreo|alt=terreō]]

+ * [[terribilis]]

+ * [[en|terrific]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}