threat

threat · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*trewd-“to squeeze, push, press”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þrautaz
3. Old English · inherited fromþrēat“crowd, swarm, troop, army, press; pressure, trouble, calamity, oppression, force, violence, threat”
4. Middle English · inherited fromthrete
5. English todaythreat

From Middle English threte, thret, thrat, thræt, threat, from Old English þrēat (“crowd, swarm, troop, army, press; pressure, trouble, calamity, oppression, force, violence, threat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrautaz, closely tied to Proto-Germanic *þrautą (“displeasure, complaint, grievance, labour, toil”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”). Cognate with Scots thret, threte, threit (“threat”), Middle High German drōz (“annoyance, disgust, horror, terror, fright”), Middle Low German drōt (“threat, menace, danger”), Faroese treyt (“struggle, labour, distress”), Icelandic þraut (“struggle, labour, distress”), Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian труд (trud, “work, labour”), Czech trud (“effot, hard work”), Polish trud (“hard work”), Serbo-Croatian trȗd (“effort, hard work”).

threat · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*trewd-“to squeeze, push, press”
2. Old English · inherited fromþrēatian“to press, oppress, repress, correct, threaten”
3. Middle English · inherited fromthreten
4. English todaythreat

From Middle English threten, from Old English þrēatian (“to press, oppress, repress, correct, threaten”), derived from Proto-Indo-European *trewd- (“to squeeze, push, press”). Cognate with Scots threit (“to threaten”), Dutch verdrieten (“to sadden, displease”), Middle Low German drēten (“to threaten”), German verdrießen (“to bother, vex”), Faroese tróta (“to run out”), Icelandic þrjóta (“to run out, end”), Norwegian tryte (“to run out, end”), Swedish tryda (“to run out”), Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌸𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (usþriutan, “to harass, torment”), Latin trūdō (“to push”), Albanian ndrydh (“to sprain, supress, withdraw”), Belarusian трудзіць (trudzicʹ, “to burden, tire”), Bulgarian тру̀дя (trùdja, “to work”), Czech trudit (“to toil, worry”), Polish trudzić (“to toil, worry”), Russian труди́ть (trudítʹ, “to burden, tire”), Serbo-Croatian trúditi (“to try, make and effot”), Ukrainian труди́ти (trudýty, “to toil, tire”).

Words from the same roots