different between terror vs threat

English

Alternative forms

• terrour (obsolete or hypercorrect)

Etymology

From late Middle English terrour, from Old French terreur (“terror, fear, dread”), from Latin terror (“fright, fear, terror”), from terr?re (“to frighten, terrify”), from Proto-Indo-European *tre- (“to shake”), *tres- (“to tremble”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t???/, in some accents IPA^(key): /?t??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t???/
• Rhymes: -???(?), -??(?)
• Hyphenation: ter?ror
• Homophones: tare, tear (some American accents)
• Homophones: terra, Terra (non-rhotic accents)

Noun

terror (countable and uncountable, plural terrors)

1. (countable, uncountable) Intense dread, fright, or fear.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fear

   • 1794, William Godwin, Things as they are; or, The adventures of Caleb

     The terrors with which I was seized […] were extreme.
2. (uncountable) The action or quality of causing dread; terribleness, especially such qualities in narrative fiction.
   • 1921, Edith Birkhead, The tale of terror: a study of the Gothic romance
3. (countable) Something or someone that causes such fear.
   • 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson

     The terrors of the storm
4. (uncountable) terrorism

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• alarm
• fright
• consternation
• dread
• dismay

References

• terror at OneLook Dictionary Search
• terror in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• terror in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• terror in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• rorter

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin terror, terrorem.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /t??ro/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /te?ro?/

Noun

terror m or f (plural terrors)

1. terror, horror

Danish

Noun

terror c (singular definite terroren, not used in plural form)

1. terror

References

• “terror” in Den Danske Ordbog

Galician

Etymology

From Latin terror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t??ro?]

Noun

terror m (plural terrores)

1. terror

   Synonyms: espanto, horror, pavor

Related terms

References

• “terror” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “terror” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “terror” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English terror, from Latin terror.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t?r?or]
• Hyphenation: ter?ror
• Rhymes: -or

Noun

terror (plural terrorok)

1. terror (especially the action or quality of causing dread)

   Synonym: megfélemlítés

Declension

Derived terms

• terrortámadás

References

Further reading

• terror in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Latin

Etymology

From terre? (“frighten, terrify”) +? -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ter.ror/, [?t??r??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ter.ror/, [?t??r??r]

Noun

terror m (genitive terr?ris); third declension

1. a dread, terror, great fear, alarm, panic
2. an object of fear or dread

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Related terms

Descendants

References

• terror in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• terror in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English terror, from Latin terror.

Noun

terror m (definite singular terroren, uncountable)

1. terror

Derived terms

• terrorangrep
• terrorhandling
• terrorregime

References

• “terror” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English terror, from Latin terror.

Noun

terror m (definite singular terroren, uncountable)

1. terror

Derived terms

• terrorhandling
• terrorregime

References

• “terror” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From English terror, from Old French terreur (“terror, fear, dread”), from Latin terror (“fright, fear, terror”), from terr?re (“to frighten, terrify”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?.rr?r/

Noun

terror m inan

1. (politics) terror (policy of political repression and violence intended to subdue political opposition)

Declension

Derived terms

• (verbs) terroryzowa?, strerroryzowa?
• (nouns) terrorysta, terrortystka, terroryzm
• (adjective) terrorystyczny
• (adverb) terrorystycznie

Further reading

• terror in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• terror in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin terror, terrorem.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /t?.??o?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /te.??o?/

Noun

terror m (plural terrores)

1. terror (intense fear)
   • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lya Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 493:

     Os olhos do elfo se arregalavam de terror e ele tremia.

2. (Brazil, slang) a very troublesome person or thing

   Você é um terror, garoto! - You're naughty, boy!

   Esses bandidos são um terror - Those criminals are terrible!

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:terror.

Derived terms

• aterrorizar
• terrorismo
• terrorista

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin terror, terrorem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te?ro?/, [t?e?ro?]

Noun

terror m (plural terrores)

1. horror (genre)
2. terror

Derived terms

Related terms

• terrible

Further reading

• “terror” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Noun

terror c

1. terror

Declension

Related terms

• terrordåd
• terrorhandling
• terrorism
• terrorist

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: thr?t, IPA^(key): /???t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English threte, thret, thrat, thræt, threat, from Old English þr?at (“crowd, swarm, troop, army, press; pressure, trouble, calamity, oppression, force, violence, threat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrautaz, closely tied to Proto-Germanic *þraut? (“displeasure, complaint, grievance, labour, toil”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”), whence also Middle Low German dr?t (“threat, menace, danger”), Middle High German dr?z (“annoyance, disgust, horror, terror, fright”), Icelandic þraut (“struggle, labour, distress”), Latin tr?d? (“push”, verb).

Noun

threat (plural threats)

1. An expression of intent to injure or punish another.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3

     There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats.

2. An indication of potential or imminent danger.
3. A person or object that is regarded as a danger; a menace.

Usage notes

Adjectives at least commonly used along with the noun: existential, possible

Derived terms

• idle threat

Related terms

• threaten
• threatening

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English threten, from Old English þr?atian (“to press, oppress, repress, correct, threaten”). Akin to Middle Dutch dr?ten (“to threaten”).

Verb

threat (third-person singular simple present threats, present participle threating, simple past and past participle threated)

1. (transitive) To press; urge; compel.
2. (transitive, archaic) To threaten.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.vii:

     An hideous Geant horrible and hye, / That with his talnesse seemd to threat the skye […]

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, V. i. 37:

     O yes, and soundless too; / For you have stolen their buzzing, Antony, / And very wisely threat before you sting.

3. (intransitive) To use threats; act or speak menacingly; threaten.

Anagrams

• Hatter, hatter, rateth, that're