From terror to vereri: a Lexical Inquiry into the Forms of Fear and Dread in Latin

Résumé 0

Behind the French translations as peur and crainte lie semantic differences that are, of course, less than systematic. Terror applies to a subject who experiences a violent fear. Pauor – pauere refer rather to a sharp anxiety brought about by a brutal shock, and formido – formidare to a deeper and lasting anxiety. Vereri, “to fear with awe”, also means “to be apprehensive of”: i.e., an anxious assessment of a situation in its durability and complexity. Timor – timere and metus – metuere have more general meanings, without always being interchangeable: timor – timere corresponds to “being prey to fear”, and metus – metuere to “focusing on the feared object”. Moreover, timere and metus come to be more frequent than metuere and timor.