Etymology

dread

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Today it means: To fear greatly. Full definition →

Middle English dreden ← Old English drǣdan ← Proto-West Germanic *andarādan
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dread · verb1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*andarādan
  2. Old English · inherited fromdrǣdan“to fear, dread”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromdreden
  4. English todaydread

From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

dread · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromdrede
  2. English todaydread

From Middle English drede, dred, from the verb (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian drēd, drēde (“fear, dread”).

dread · adjective3

  1. Middle English · derived fromdreden“to fear, dread”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdrede
  3. English todaydread

From Middle English drede, dredde, dradde, ydreddyd (“feared, dreaded, honoured”), past participle of Middle English dreden (“to fear, dread”). See above.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.