fear

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Ultimateria (talk | contribs) as of 17:51, 7 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Fear, féar, and fear-

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Lua error: The template Template:PIE root does not use the parameter(s): 
2=per
id=risk
Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

(deprecated template usage)

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

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

fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

  2. (uncountable) A strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
    He was struck by fear on seeing the snake.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      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[1]:
      ‘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?’
  3. (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.
    Not everybody has the same fears.  I have a fear of ants.
    • Template:RQ:EHough PrqsPrc
      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.
  4. (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Psalm CXI, verse 10:
      The feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome.
    • 1846, J. Ruskin, Modern Painters, volume II, page 121:
      That sacred dread of all offence to him, which is called the Fear of God.
Synonyms
  • (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
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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

  2. (transitive) To feel fear about (something or someone); to be afraid of; to consider or expect with alarm.
    I fear the worst will happen.
    • c. 1589, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act I, Scene 2,[2]
      I greatly fear my money is not safe.
    • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 10:28,[3]
      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.
    • Template:RQ:WBsnt IvryGt
      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 (about something).
    Never fear; help is always near.
  5. (intransitive, used with for) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid 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.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter X, in Le Morte Darthur, book V:
      :
      Thenne the knyghte sayd to syre Gawayn / bynde thy wounde or thy blee chaunge / for thou bybledest al thy hors and thy fayre armes / […] / For who someuer is hurte with this blade he shalle neuer be staunched of bledynge / Thenne ansuerd gawayn hit greueth me but lytyl / thy grete wordes shalle not feare me ne lasse my courage
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, Book III, Canto IV, p. 448,[5]
      Ythrild with deepe disdaine of his proud threat,
      She shortly thus; Fly they, that need to fly;
      Wordes fearen babes.
    • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, Scene 2,[6]
      Tush, tush! fear boys with bugs.
  9. (obsolete, transitive) To be anxious or solicitous for.
  10. (obsolete, transitive) To suspect; to doubt.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

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

fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)

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

Anagrams

Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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

Noun

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 maire na mná go deo!
    Health to the men and may the women live forever!
  2. husband, male spouse
Declension
Declension of fear

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

Derived terms

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) grant, provide
  2. (transitive) pour out, give forth, shed
  3. (transitive) wage
  4. (transitive) perform, execute; hold, observe
  5. (transitive) affect; benefit
  6. (transitive) excrete
Conjugation
conjugation of fear (first conjugation – A)
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*; a bhfearas* 		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*; a bhfearfas* 		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
verbal noun fearadh
past participle feartha

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

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.

Further reading

Scots

Noun

fear (plural fears)

  1. fear

Verb

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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

fear m (genitive singular fir, plural fir)

  1. man
  2. husband, male spouse

Declension

First declension; forms with the definite article:

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

Derived terms

Pronoun

fear (genitive fir)

  1. somebody, something, one

Usage notes

Derived terms

Mutation

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

Further reading

West Frisian

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

fear c (plural fearren, diminutive fearke)

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

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

fear n (plural fearen)

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

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

fear c (plural fearen)

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

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

fear

  1. farrow
Inflection
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
  • “fear (V)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=fear&oldid=58311132"