awe

See also: Awe

English

Etymology

From Middle English aw, awe, agh, awȝe, borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, dread”). Displaced native Middle English eye, eyȝe, ayȝe, eȝȝe, from Old English ege, æge (“fear, terror, dread”), from the same Proto-Germanic root.

Pronunciation

• In non-rhotic accents:
  • enPR: ô, IPA^(key): /ɔː/

  • (file)

  • Homophones: oar, or, ore, o'er
• In rhotic accents:
  • (US) enPR: ô, IPA^(key): /ɔ/

  • (file)

  • Homophone: aw
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: ä, IPA^(key): /ɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɔː

Noun

awe (usually uncountable, plural awes)

1. A feeling of fear and reverence.
   • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 2, page 172:

     Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

2. A feeling of amazement.
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV

     For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distant planet had we suddenly been miraculously transported through ether to an unknown world.

3. (archaic) Power to inspire awe.

Derived terms

terms derived from awe (noun)

• awful
• aweful
• awe-inspiring
• aweless
• awesome
• awestrike

• awestricken
• awestruck
• shock and awe

Translations

feeling of fear and reverence

• Bulgarian: страхопочитание (bg) (strahopočitanie), благоговение (bg) (blagogovenie)
• Catalan: temor (ca) m, paüra (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 敬畏 (zh) (jìngwèi)

• Danish: ærefrygt c
• Finnish: syvä kunnioitus, kunnioittava pelko, pelko (fi), pelonsekainen kunnioitus
• French: crainte (fr) f, révérence (fr) f
• German: Ehrfurcht (de) f
• Greek: δέος (el) n (déos), σέβας (el) n (sévas)

  Ancient: ἄγος m (ágos)

• Hungarian: áhitat
• Italian: timore (it) m

• Latin: formido f
• Macedonian: стравопо́чит f (stravopóčit)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ærefrykt (no) m

• Polish: groza (pl) f, trwoga (pl) f
• Portuguese: temor (pt) m
• Russian: благогове́ние (ru) n (blagogovénije), тре́пет (ru) m (trépet)
• Serbo-Croatian: strahopoštovanje (sh) n
• Slovak: bázeň f, úcta hraničiaca so strachom
• Spanish: pavor (es) m, temor (es) m, medrosía f
• Swedish: fruktan (sv) c, bävan (sv)
• Turkish: huşu (tr)

feeling of amazement

• Danish: ærefrygt c
• Esperanto: admirego
• Finnish: hämmästys (fi), ällikkä
• French: admiration (fr) f
• Greek: κατάπληξη (el) f (katáplixi)
• Hungarian: bámulat (hu)
• Polish: zachwyt (pl) m

• Portuguese: espanto (pt) m
• Russian: изумле́ние (ru) n (izumlénije)
• Slovak: úžas m
• Spanish: asombro (es) m
• Swedish: häpnad (sv), förundran (sv), förvåning (sv), bestörtning (sv)
• Turkish: huşu (tr)

Verb

awe (third-person singular simple present awes, present participle awing or aweing, simple past and past participle awed)

1. (transitive) To inspire fear and reverence in.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “1/1/3”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎^[2]:

     That large room had always awed Ivor: even as a child he had never wanted to play in it, for all that it was so limitless, the parquet floor so vast and shiny and unencumbered, the windows so wide and light with the fairy expanse of Kensington Gardens.

2. (transitive) To control by inspiring dread.

Synonyms

• (inspire reverence): enthral, enthrall; overwhelm

Derived terms

• awed

Translations

to inspire fear and reverence

• Bulgarian: внушавам страхопочитание (vnušavam strahopočitanie)
• Finnish: pelottaa (fi), herättää pelkoa, herättää kunnioitusta
• Greek: προκαλώ δέος (prokaló déos), καταπλήσσω (el) (kataplísso)
• Persian: نهازیدن‎ (fa) (nehâzidan)

• Russian: внуша́ть тре́пет (vnušátʹ trépet), внуша́ть благогове́ние (vnušátʹ blagogovénije)
• Slovak: budiť rešpekt
• Spanish: asombrar (es), abrumar (es), zozobrar (es), desasosegar (es), desosegar (es)
• Turkish: huşu uyandırmak, huşulandırmak

to control by inspiring dread

• Finnish: pelotella (fi)
• German: einschüchtern (de)

• Greek: εκφοβίζω (el) (ekfovízo)

Anagrams

• AEW, EAW, WAE, WEA, eaw, wae

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Mapudungun

Adverb

awe (Raguileo spelling)

1. quickly, promptly.
2. soon

Synonyms

• arol

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English ēowu.

Noun

awe

1. Alternative form of ewe

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂égʰos. Doublet of eye.

Alternative forms

• aw, ahe, au, aue, aghe, age, aȝe

Pronunciation

• (Early ME) IPA^(key): /ˈaɣ̞ə/
• IPA^(key): /ˈau̯(ə)/
• Rhymes: -au̯(ə)

Noun

awe (uncountable)

1. awe, wonder, reverence
2. fear, horror
3. that which elicits or incites horror; something horrifying

Related terms

• agheful
• aghlich (rare)
• awles (rare)
• awen (rare)

Descendants

• English: awe
• Scots: awe, aw

References

• “aue, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-11.

Etymology 3

From Old English onweġ, aweġ.

Adverb

awe

1. Alternative form of away

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Papiamentu

Alternative forms

• awé (alternative spelling)

Etymology

From Portuguese hoje and Spanish hoy and Kabuverdianu ochi.

Pronoun

awe

1. today

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Swahili

Verb

awe

1. inflection of -wa:
   1. third-person singular subjunctive affirmative
   2. m-wa class subject inflected singular subjunctive affirmative

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Western Arrernte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /awə/

Interjection

awe

1. yes