panic

panic · adjective, noun, verb¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromπανικός“pertaining to Pan”
2. Middle French · borrowed frompanique
3. English todaypanic

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots. Adjective sense 3 (“pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright”) is partly an attributive use of the noun. The noun is derived from the adjective, while the verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.3 (“to highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show”) is derived from noun sense 4 (“a highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show”).

panic · noun²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)penh₁-“to twist; to weave”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₂-“to graze; to protect; to shepherd”
3. Latin · derived frompānicum
4. Middle English · inherited frompanik
5. English todaypanic

From Late Middle English panik, panyk (“plant of the genus Panicum”), borrowed from Latin pānicum, pānīcum (“foxtail millet or Italian millet (Setaria italica); plant of the genus Panicum, panicgrass”); further etymology uncertain, probably either from pānis (“bread; loaf”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to graze; to protect; to shepherd”)) or pānus (“ear of millet; thread wound on a bobbin”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- (“to twist; to weave”)) + -cum (suffix forming neuter nouns). Doublet of bannock and bonnag

Panic · adjective³

From Pan + -ic.

Words from the same roots