terrific English · revision 98

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /təˈɹɪf.ɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Respelling: ''tə-rĭfˈĭk''^(AHD)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ First recorded in 1667, in Milton,^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) [[bor|la|terrificus|t=causing terror, frightful]],^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from ''terrēre'' “to frighten” + ''-ficus'' “making”,^(AHD)^(RHWU) from ''facere'' “to make”,^(Etymonline) [[der|ine-pro|*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Causing terror; terrifying”.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Like [[awful]] and [[terrible]], the word weakened into an intensifier.^(OED 1989) By 1809 it meant “very great, severe”, as in ''a terrific headache'',^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and by 1888, in an inverted colloquial sense, “excellent”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1667 – “causing terror, terrifying”.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1809 – intensive, “very great, severe, excessive”.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1888 – colloquially, “excellent”; the OED's first quotation is from 1930.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Very good; excellent.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Very great or intense, as in ''terrific speed''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Causing terror; terrifying.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[terrifically]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ * [[terrificness]]^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[terrible]], [[terrify]], [[terror]]^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}