Advertisement

Origin and history of dire

dire(adj.)

"causing or attended by great fear, dreadful, awful," 1560s, from Latin dirus "fearful, awful, boding ill," a religious term, which is of unknown origin. Apparently a dialect word in Latin; perhaps from Oscan and Umbrian and perhaps cognate with Greek deinos "terrible," Sanskrit dvis- 'hate, enmity, enemy," from PIE root *dwei-, forming words for "fear; hatred."

The recent date of appearance, and the absence of any derivatives within Latin, might also be interpreted as a support for this explanation. We may accept it, but with the necessary precautions, since it remains an explanation ex obscuro. [de Vaan]


also from 1560s

Entries linking to dire

dinosaur(n.)

one of the Dinosauria, a class of extinct Mesozoic reptiles often of enormous size, 1841, coined in Modern Latin by Sir Richard Owen, from Greek deinos "terrible" (see dire) + sauros "lizard" (see -saurus). Figurative sense of "person or institution not adapting to change" is from 1952. Related: Dinosaurian.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    dread
    late 12c., "to fear very much, be in shrinking apprehension or expectation of," a shortening of Old English adrædan, contraction of ondrædan "counsel or advise against," also "to dread, fear, be afraid," from ond-, and- "against" (the same first element in answer, from PIE root *
    desperate
    c. 1400, desperat, of persons, "despairing, hopeless" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin desperatus "given up, despaired of," past participle of desperare "to despair, to lose all hope," from de "without" (see de-) + sperare "to hope," from spes "hope" (from PIE root *spes- "pros
    grim
    Old English grimm "fierce, cruel, savage; severe, dire, painful," from Proto-Germanic *grimma- (source also of Old Saxon,...Old Frisian, Old High German, German grimm "grim, angry, fierce," Old Norse grimmr "stern, horrible, dire," Swedish grym...
    verdict
    "a true saying or report," from ver, veir "true" (from PIE root *were-o- "true, trustworthy") + dit, past participle of dire...
    odium
    Greek odyssasthai "to be angry, be grieved, grumble," Armenian ateam "I hate," Old Norse atall, Old English atol "evil, dire...
    bore
    Le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire (The secret of being a bore is to tell everything) [Voltaire, "Sept Discours en...
    baleful
    Old English bealufull "dire, wicked, cruel," with -ful + bealu "harm, injury, ruin, evil, mischief, wickedness, a noxious...
    adder
    Middle English naddre, from Old English (West Saxon) næddre (Mercian nedre, Northumbrian nedra), "a snake; the Serpent in the Garden of Eden," from Proto-Germanic *naethro "a snake" (source also of Old Norse naðra, Middle Dutch nadre, Old High German natra, German Natter, Gothic
    contempt
    late 14c., "open disregard or disobedience" (of authority, the law, etc.); the general sense of "act of despising; scorn for what is mean, vile, or worthless" is from c. 1400; from Old French contempt, contemps, and directly Latin contemptus "scorn," from past participle of conte
    beauty
    early 14c., bealte, "physical attractiveness," also "goodness, courtesy," from Anglo-French beute, Old French biauté "beauty, seductiveness, beautiful person" (12c., Modern French beauté), earlier beltet, from Vulgar Latin *bellitatem (nominative bellitas) "state of being pleasin

    Share dire

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near dire
    Advertisement