different between threat vs terrorise

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

English

Alternative forms

• terrorize (American)

Etymology

terror +? -ise

Verb

terrorise (third-person singular simple present terrorises, present participle terrorising, simple past and past participle terrorised) (British spelling, transitive)

1. To inflict someone with terror; to terrify.
   • , Episode 16

     Though unusual in the Dublin area he knew that it was not by any means unknown for desperadoes who had next to nothing to live on to be abroad waylaying and generally terrorising peaceable pedestrians by placing a pistol at their head…

2. To coerce (someone) by using threats or violence.

Synonyms

• (fill with terror) petrify, terrify
• (coerce by threats or violence) bully, hector

Related terms

• terrorism
• terrorist

Translations

Anagrams

• roisterer

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: terrorisent, terrorises

Verb

terrorise

1. first-person singular present indicative of terroriser
2. third-person singular present indicative of terroriser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of terroriser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of terroriser
5. second-person singular imperative of terroriser