fear

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See also fear-

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fēran (“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”).

[edit] Noun

fear (countable and uncountable; plural fears)

  1. (uncountable) A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
    He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
  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.
  3. (uncountable) Extreme veneration or awe, as toward a supreme being or deity.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
uncountable: emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat
a phobia; sense of fear induced by something or someone
extreme veneration or awe
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (“to frighten, raven”), from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”). See above.

[edit] Verb

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

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To cause fear to; to frighten.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book V:
      ‘Be God,’ sayde Sir Gawayne, ‘his grevys me but lytyll; yet shalt thou nat feare me for all thy grete wordis.
  2. (transitive) To feel fear about (something).
    I fear the worst will happen.
  3. (transitive) To venerate; to feel awe towards.
    People who fear God can be found in Christian churches.
  4. (transitive) Regret
    I fear [regret that] I have bad news for you: your husband has died.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
feel fear about (something)
venerate

[edit] Etymology 3

From Middle English fere, feore, from Old English fēre (“able to go, fit for service”), from Proto-Germanic *fōriz, *fōrjaz (“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.

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Adjective

fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)

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

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Irish

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: [fʲaɾˠ]

[edit] Etymology

From Old Irish fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognate with Welsh gŵr, Latin vir, Old English wer.

[edit] Noun

fear m.

  1. man
  2. husband, male spouse

[edit] Declension

First declension

Bare forms:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative fear fir
Vocative a fhir a fheara
Genitive fir fear
Dative fear fir

Forms with the definite article:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an fear na fir
Genitive an fhir na bhfear
Dative leis an bhfear

don fhear

 leis na fir

[edit] Mutation

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.

[edit] Scots

[edit] Noun

fear (plural fears)

  1. fear

[edit] Verb

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

  1. to fear
  2. to frighten, scare

[edit] Scottish Gaelic

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

fear m. (genitive and plural fir)

  1. man
  2. husband, male spouse

[edit] Declension

First declension; forms with the definite article:

Case Singular Plural
Nominative am fear na fir
Vocative fhir fhir
Genitive an fir nam fear/fir
Dative leis an fhear leis na fir

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] See also

[edit] Pronoun

fear (genitive fir)

  1. somebody, something, one

[edit] Usage notes

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] West Frisian

[edit] Noun

fear c. (pl. fearren)

  1. ferry
  2. spring (mechanical device)
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