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ter·ri·fy

(tĕrə-fī′)

tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies

1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid: "She was terrified that he would lie to her" (Jodi Picoult). See Synonyms at frighten.

2. To drive or force by arousing fear: "The few who survived had long ago been terrified into complete intellectual surrender" (George Orwell).

[Latin terrificāre, from terrificus, terrific; see TERRIFIC.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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