English Online Dictionary. What means fear? What does fear mean?
English
Pronunciation
- (General Australian, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɪə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɪɚ/, /fɪɹ/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /fiɹ/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /fiə/
- (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /fɛː/
- Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
- Homophones: fair, fare (both cheer–chair merger)
Etymology 1
From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to attempt, try, research, risk”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, risk, hazard”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”), Albanian frikë (“fear, danger”), Romanian frică. Doublet of peril.
The verb is from Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (“to frighten, raven”), from the noun. Cognate with the archaic Dutch verb varen (“to fear; to cause fear”).
Noun
fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)
- (uncountable) A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.
- (countable) A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone.
- (uncountable) Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns.
- (UK, with definite article, "the fear") A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.
- Synonym: hangxiety
Synonyms
- (an emotion caused by actual or perceived danger; a sense of fear induced by something or someone): See Thesaurus:fear
- (terrified veneration): dread
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
fear (third-person singular simple present fears, present participle fearing, simple past and past participle feared)
- (transitive) To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm.
- (intransitive) To feel fear.
- (intransitive) To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for].
- (transitive) To venerate; to feel awe towards.
- (transitive) To regret.
- (obsolete, transitive) To cause fear to; to frighten.
- (obsolete, transitive) To be anxious or solicitous for.
- (obsolete, transitive) To suspect; to doubt.
Synonyms
- (feel fear about (something)): be afraid of, be frightened of, be scared of, be terrorised/terrorized
- (venerate; to feel awe towards): be in awe of, revere, venerate
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “venerate; to feel awe towards”): belittle, contemn
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English fere, feore, from Old English fēre (“able to go, fit for service”), from Proto-Germanic *fēriz (“passable”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to put across, ferry”). Cognate with Scots fere, feir (“well, active, sound”), Middle High German gevüere (“able, capable, fit, serviceable”), Swedish för (“capable, able, stout”), Icelandic fær (“able”). Related to fare.
Adjective
fear (comparative more fear, superlative most fear)
- (dialectal) Able; capable; stout; strong; sound.
Alternative forms
- feer
Anagrams
- FERA, Fera, Rafe, fare, reaf
Irish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fʲaɾˠ/
- (Cois Fharraige) IPA(key): /fʲæɾˠ/
Etymology 1
From Old Irish fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.
Cognate with Welsh gŵr, Breton gour, Cornish gour, Gaulish viros, Latin vir, Sanskrit वीर (vīra), Lithuanian výras, Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬭𐬀 (vīra), and Old English wer.
Noun
fear m (genitive singular fir, nominative plural fir)
- man (adult male)
- husband, male spouse
Declension
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Middle Irish feraid, from Old Irish feraid.
Verb
fear (present analytic fearann, future analytic fearfaidh, verbal noun fearadh, past participle feartha) (transitive)
- to shed (a liquid)
- to excrete
Conjugation
Mutation
References
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “fear”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “fear”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “fear”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025
Scots
Noun
fear (plural fears)
- fear
Verb
fear (third-person singular simple present fears, present participle fearin, simple past feart, past participle feart)
- to fear
- to frighten, scare
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
Inherited from Old Irish fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɛɾ/
Noun
fear m (genitive singular fir, plural fir)
- man
- husband, male spouse
Declension
Derived terms
Pronoun
fear (genitive fir)
- somebody, something, one
Usage notes
- Used when referring to a singular masculine subject.
- For feminine subjects tè is used. Alternatively, neach can be used for either gender.
- In the plural feadhainn is used for both genders.
Derived terms
- feareigin
- fear mu seach
Mutation
See also
- bean
Further reading
- Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 fer”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
West Frisian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɪə̯r/
Etymology 1
From Old Frisian fethere, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥.
Cognate with English feather, Greek φτερό (fteró, “wing, feather”), Latin penna (“wing, feather”) and Irish éan (“bird”).
Noun
fear c (plural fearren, diminutive fearke)
- feather
- spring (mechanical device)
Further reading
- “fear (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *farjǭ. Cognate with Dutch veer, English ferry.
Noun
fear n (plural fearen)
- ferry
Further reading
- “fear (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Etymology 3
From Old Frisian *farn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn.
Noun
fear c (plural fearen)
- fern
Further reading
- “fear (III)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
Etymology 4
From Old Frisian *farch, from Proto-West Germanic *farh. Cognate with English farrow.
Adjective
fear
- farrow
Inflection
Further reading
- “fear (V)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011