See also: Fear, féar, and fear-

English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (danger), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (to attempt, try, research, risk). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (danger, risk, peril), German Gefahr (danger, risk, hazard), Swedish fara (danger, risk, peril), Latin perīculum (danger, risk, trial), Albanian frikë (fear, danger), Romanian frică. Doublet of peril.

The verb is from Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (to frighten, raven), from the noun. Cognate with the archaic Dutch verb varen (to fear; to cause fear).

Noun edit

fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

  1. (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
    He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter III, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, →OCLC:
      Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police []? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?’
  2. (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.
    Not everybody has the same fears.  I have a fear of ants.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
  3. (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
  4. (UK, with definite article, "the fear") A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.
    Synonym: hangxiety
    • 2019, Ruth Kelly, The Little Vineyard in Provence:
      Her feeling of humiliation had intensified as the day had gone on and her hangover had worsened. She now also had 'the fear' to contend with, []
    • (Can we date this quote by Mark Ratcliffe and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), The Step Down: A Very Scottish Crime
      He had the fear, that feeling of dread that you've done something really embarrassing. The fear was a hundred times worse than the hangover. No, a thousand times worse.
Synonyms edit
  • (an emotion caused by actual or perceived danger; a sense of fear induced by something or someone): See Thesaurus:fear
  • (terrified veneration): dread
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

fear (third-person singular simple present fears, present participle fearing, simple past and past participle feared)

  1. (transitive) To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm.
    I fear the worst will happen.
    • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
      I greatly fear my money is not safe.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, [] (King James Version), London: [] Robert Barker, [], →OCLC, Matthew 10:28:
      And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
    • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate [], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, [], →OCLC:
      At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
    • 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, “Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:
      One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools [] as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
  2. (intransitive) To feel fear.
    Never fear; help is always near.
  3. (intransitive, used with for) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for.
    She fears for her son’s safety.
  4. (transitive) To venerate; to feel awe towards.
    People who fear God can be found in Christian churches.
  5. (transitive) To regret.
    I fear I have bad news for you: your husband has died.
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To cause fear to; to frighten.
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To be anxious or solicitous for.
  8. (obsolete, transitive) To suspect; to doubt.
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English fere, feore, from Old English fēre (able to go, fit for service), from Proto-Germanic *fōriz (passable), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (to put across, ferry). Cognate with Scots fere, feir (well, active, sound), Middle High German gevüere (able, capable, fit, serviceable), Swedish för (capable, able, stout), Icelandic færr (able). Related to fare.

Adjective edit

fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)

  1. (dialectal) Able; capable; stout; strong; sound.
    hale and fear
Alternative forms edit

Anagrams edit

Irish edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Old Irish fer,[5] from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.

Cognate with Welsh gŵr, Breton gour, Cornish gour, Gaulish viros, Latin vir, Sanskrit वीर (vīra), Lithuanian výras, Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬭𐬀 (vīra), and Old English wer.

Noun edit

fear m (genitive singular fir, nominative plural fir)

  1. man (adult male)
    Tá an fear ag ól uisce.
    The man is drinking water.
    Sláinte chuig na fir agus go marfuire na mná go deo!
    Health to the men and may the women live forever!
  2. husband, male spouse
Declension edit
Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle Irish feraid, from Old Irish feraid.[6]

Verb edit

fear (present analytic fearann, future analytic fearfaidh, verbal noun fearadh, past participle feartha) (transitive)

  1. to shed (a liquid)
  2. to excrete
Conjugation edit

Mutation edit

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
fear fhear bhfear
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References edit

  1. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, page 30
  2. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 106
  3. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 95
  4. ^ de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1977) Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge: An Deilbhíocht (in Irish), 2nd edition, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, § 5 and p. 339
  5. ^ G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 fer”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  6. ^ G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “feraid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Further reading edit

Scots edit

Noun edit

fear (plural fears)

  1. fear

Verb edit

fear (third-person singular simple present fears, present participle fearin, simple past feart, past participle feart)

  1. to fear
  2. to frighten, scare

Scottish Gaelic edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old Irish fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

fear m (genitive singular fir, plural fir)

  1. man
  2. husband, male spouse

Declension edit

Derived terms edit

Pronoun edit

fear (genitive fir)

  1. somebody, something, one

Usage notes edit

Derived terms edit

Mutation edit

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical Lenition
fear fhear
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also edit

Further reading edit

West Frisian edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Old Frisian fethere, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥.

Cognate with English feather, Greek φτερό (fteró, wing, feather), Latin penna (wing, feather) and Irish éan (bird).

Noun edit

fear c (plural fearren, diminutive fearke)

  1. feather
  2. spring (mechanical device)
Further reading edit
  • fear (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Etymology 2 edit

From Proto-Germanic *farjǭ. Cognate with Dutch veer, English ferry.

Noun edit

fear n (plural fearen)

  1. ferry
Further reading edit
  • fear (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Etymology 3 edit

From Old Frisian *farn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn.

Noun edit

fear c (plural fearen)

  1. fern
Further reading edit
  • fear (III)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Etymology 4 edit

From Old Frisian *farch, from Proto-West Germanic *farh. Cognate with English farrow.

Adjective edit

fear

  1. farrow
Inflection edit
Inflection of fear
uninflected fear
inflected feare
comparative
positive
predicative/adverbial fear
indefinite c. sing. feare
n. sing. fear
plural feare
definite feare
partitive fears
Further reading edit
  • fear (V)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011