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fear

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Fear, féar, and fear-

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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 go through, carry forth, try”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, risk, hazard”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”). 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

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fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

  2. (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fear
    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.
    • 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.
    • 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1:
      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.
  3. (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular.
    Not everybody has the same fears.
    I have a fear of ants.
  4. (countable) Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear.
    Spiders are my greatest fear.
  5. (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
    Synonym: dread
  6. (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, […]
    • 2020, Mark Ratcliffe, 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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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

  2. (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.
  3. (intransitive) To feel fear.
    Never fear; help is always near.
  5. (intransitive) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for].
    She fears for her son’s safety.
  6. (transitive) To venerate; to feel awe towards.
    People who fear God can be found in Christian churches.
  7. (transitive) To regret.
    I fear I have bad news for you: your husband has died.
  8. (obsolete, transitive) To cause fear to; to frighten.
  9. (obsolete, transitive) To be anxious or solicitous for.
  10. (obsolete, transitive) To suspect; to doubt.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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

    Adjective

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    fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)

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

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    Irish

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    Pronunciation

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    Etymology 1

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    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

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    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
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    Declension of fear (first declension)
    bare forms
    singular plural
    nominative fear fir
    vocative a fhir a fheara
    genitive fir fear
    dative fear fir
    fearaibh (archaic)
    forms with the definite article
    singular plural
    nominative an fear na fir
    genitive an fhir na bhfear
    dative leis an bhfear
    don fhear     		leis na fir
    Derived terms
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    Etymology 2

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

    Verb

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

    1. to shed (a liquid)
    2. to excrete
    Conjugation
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    conjugation of fear (first conjugation – A)
    verbal noun fearadh
    past participle feartha
    tense singular plural relative autonomous
    first second third first second third
    indicative
    present fearaim fearann tú;
    fearair†     		fearann sé, sí fearaimid fearann sibh fearann siad;
    fearaid†     		a fhearann; a fhearas /
    a bhfearann*     		feartar
    past d'fhear mé; d'fhearas /
    fhear mé‡; fhearas‡     		d'fhear tú; d'fhearais /
    fhear tú; fhearais‡     		d'fhear sé, sí /
    fhear sé, sí‡     		d'fhearamar; d'fhear muid /
    fhearamar; fhear muid‡     		d'fhear sibh; d'fhearabhair /
    fhear sibh;
    fhearabhair‡     		d'fhear siad; d'fhearadar /
    fhear siad; fhearadar‡     		a d'fhear /
    ar fhear*     		fearadh
    past habitual d'fhearainn /
    fhearainn‡; bhfearainn‡‡     		d'fheartá /
    fheartá‡; bhfeartᇇ     		d'fhearadh sé, sí /
    fhearadh sé, sí‡; bhfearadh sé, s퇇     		d'fhearaimis; d'fhearadh muid /
    fhearaimis; fhearadh muid‡; bhfearaimis‡‡; bhfearadh muid‡‡     		d'fhearadh sibh /
    fhearadh sibh‡; bhfearadh sibh‡‡     		d'fhearaidís; d'fhearadh siad /
    fhearaidís; fhearadh siad‡; bhfearaidís‡‡; bhfearadh siad‡‡     		a d'fhearadh /
    a bhfearadh*     		d'fheartaí /
    fheartaí‡; bhfearta퇇
    future fearfaidh mé;
    fearfad     		fearfaidh tú;
    fearfair†     		fearfaidh sé, sí fearfaimid;
    fearfaidh muid     		fearfaidh sibh fearfaidh siad;
    fearfaid†     		a fhearfaidh; a fhearfas /
    a bhfearfaidh*     		fearfar
    conditional d'fhearfainn / fhearfainn‡; bhfearfainn‡‡ d'fhearfá / fhearfá‡; bhfearfᇇ d'fhearfadh sé, sí / fhearfadh sé, sí‡; bhfearfadh sé, s퇇 d'fhearfaimis; d'fhearfadh muid / fhearfaimis‡; fhearfadh muid‡; bhfearfaimis‡‡; bhfearfadh muid‡‡ d'fhearfadh sibh / fhearfadh sibh‡; bhfearfadh sibh‡‡ d'fhearfaidís; d'fhearfadh siad / fhearfaidís‡; fhearfadh siad‡; bhfearfaidís‡‡; bhfearfadh siad‡‡ a d'fhearfadh /
    a bhfearfadh*     		d'fhearfaí / fhearfaí‡; bhfearfa퇇
    subjunctive
    present go bhfeara mé;
    go bhfearad†     		go bhfeara tú;
    go bhfearair†     		go bhfeara sé, sí go bhfearaimid;
    go bhfeara muid     		go bhfeara sibh go bhfeara siad;
    go bhfearaid†     		— go bhfeartar
    past dá bhfearainn dá bhfeartá dá bhfearadh sé, sí dá bhfearaimis;
    dá bhfearadh muid     		dá bhfearadh sibh dá bhfearaidís;
    dá bhfearadh siad     		— dá bhfeartaí
    imperative
    – fearaim fear fearadh sé, sí fearaimis fearaigí;
    fearaidh†     		fearaidís — feartar

    * indirect relative
    † archaic or dialect form
    ‡ dependent form
    ‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

    Mutation

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    Mutated forms of fear
    radical lenition eclipsis
    fear fhear bhfear

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    References

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    1. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931), Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 57, page 30
    2. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 106
    3. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 269, page 95
    4. ^ de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1977), Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge: An Deilbhíocht [The Irish of Cois Fharraige: Accidence] (in Irish), 2nd edition, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath [Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies], section 5, page 3
    5. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 fer”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
    6. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “feraid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

    Further reading

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    Scots

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    Noun

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    fear (plural fears)

    1. fear

    Verb

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

    1. to fear
    2. to frighten, scare

    Scottish Gaelic

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    Etymology

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

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    fear m (genitive singular fir, plural fir)

    1. man
    2. husband, male spouse

    Declension

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    Declension of fear (type I masculine noun)
    indefinite
    singular plural
    nominative fear fir
    genitive fir fhear
    dative fear fir; fearaibh1
    definite
    singular plural
    nominative (am) fear (na) fir
    genitive (an) fhir (nam) fear
    dative (an) fhear (na) fir; fearaibh1
    vocative fhir fheara

    1 obsolete form, used until the 19th century

    Derived terms

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    Pronoun

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    fear (genitive fir)

    1. somebody, something, one

    Usage notes

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    Derived terms

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    See also

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    Mutation

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    Mutation of fear
    radical lenition
    fear fhear

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Further reading

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    West Frisian

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    Pronunciation

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    Etymology 1

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    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

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    fear c (plural fearren, diminutive fearke)

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

    Etymology 2

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

    Noun

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    fear n (plural fearen)

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

    Etymology 3

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

    Noun

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    fear c (plural fearen)

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

    Etymology 4

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

    Adjective

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    fear

    1. farrow
    Inflection
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    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
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    • “fear (V)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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