The story
- Latin · derived fromminax“threatening”
- Late Latin · borrowed fromminacia“threat”
- English todayminacious
From Late Latin minacia (“threat”) + -ious, from Latin minax (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). Cf. Italian minaccioso, attested 1532.
Words from the same roots
Late Latinminacia all →
menaceminaciouslyminaciousness
Latinminax all →
menaceminaceousminaciouslyminaciousnessminacity
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.