terror

n.

1. Intense, overpowering fear. See synonyms at fear.
2. One that instills intense fear: a rabid dog that became the terror of the neighborhood.
3. The ability to instill intense fear: the terror of jackboots pounding down the street.
4. Violence committed or threatened by a group to intimidate or coerce a population, as for military or political purposes.
5. Informal. An annoying or intolerable pest: that little terror of a child.

[Middle English terrour, from Old French terreur, from Latin terror, from terrēre, to frighten.]

noun

Great agitation and anxiety caused by the expectation or the realization of danger: affright, alarm, apprehension, dread, fear, fearfulness, fright, funk, horror, panic, trepidation. Slang cold feet. Idioms: fear and trembling. See fear/courage.

n

Definition: intense fear
Antonyms: cheer, glee, happiness, joy, peace

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The specific fear that some evil event or action is going to occur. Its origins go back to the notion of trembling. Strictly speaking, it should be distinguished from horror, in that horror implies something disgusting and negative, whereas terror does not.

In the field of myth, terror has often been associated with visitations from an all-powerful god controlling life and death in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. The Delphic oracle went into a kind of trance or frenzy, during which the awesome god spoke through the prophetess. All this, even the ambiguities of the prophecies themselves, was designed to inspire fear of the god in the onlookers.

Terror appears to fit into the category of instinct response which humans share with most animals. For example, most humans and animals fear the sight of mutilated bodies. Experiments with chimpanzees during which the animals were shown pictures of chimpanzees with their heads or limbs cut off elicited instinctive responses of extreme trepidation. This fear of violence done to the body is at the basis of the terror process.

In the ancient world terror was the basis of tyranny, as in Rome under Marius and Sulla. Historically many political leaders have chosen to rule by terror tactics rather than customary, legal means — that is, by the systematic use of violence to inhibit political opposition. Present-day 'acts of terrorism' bear a different sense, as they are designed to disrupt a given system by violent actions.

While the causes of terror have changed over the centuries, the human mind continues to be highly susceptible to it. Our ancestors gathered round lighted fires not only to keep warm but to ward off 'the terror by night': there were terrifying animals lurking in the darkness. The 'night light' in a child's room reflects this fear of darkness, of the unseen and the unknown. Even so, most humans seem to enjoy the feeling of terror under controlled conditions. Grandmothers have traditionally told tales of terror around the fireplace to countless generations of children, in a role which today has been supplanted by the so-called horror film. Perhaps the monsters who march across the screen are designed to purge the real monsters within the human psyche. (See Frankenstein.)

Contemporary science and technology have created new sources of terror, such as the threat of nuclear annihilation and highly sophisticated means of electronic surveillance and control of human behaviour. Modern adult human beings may no longer fear the presence of huge animals in the darkness, but most humans experience terror born from technology.

(Published 1987)

— Raymond T. McNally

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IN BRIEF: n. - An overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety.

If thunder itself was to be continual, it would excite no more terror than the noise of a mill. — A. Kingston

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - terror

Nederlands (Dutch)
schrik, verschrikking

Français (French)
n. - terreur, (Hist) la Terreur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Angst, Schrecken, Terror

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τρόμος, φόβος, φρίκη, δέος, τρομοκρατία

Italiano (Italian)
terrore, spavento, orrore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - terror (m)

Русский (Russian)
террор, страх, ужас

Español (Spanish)
n. - terror, espanto, sobresalto, susto, horror, pánico, atrocidad

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - terror, skräck, fasa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
恐怖, 恐怖时期, 可怕的人

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 恐怖, 恐怖時期, 可怕的人

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 공포, 지긋 지긋한 녀석, 테러 집단

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 恐怖, 恐ろしさ, 恐怖政治, テロ, 大変な厄介物, 厄介者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ذعر, رعب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פחד, אימה, טרור, חבלה‬

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galaxy of terror