Affright
/əˈfraɪt/noun
To frighten or terrify someone; also, a feeling of great fear.
Did you know?Affright is built on the same Germanic root as fright, but the added prefix a- comes from Old English intensification, giving the word an almost ritualized force of terror rather than a simple emotion.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*frakhtaz
“fear, terror”
Old English
OE
afryhtan
“to frighten, terrify”
Middle English
ME
affrighten
“to terrify, alarm”
14th Century
English
affright
“to frighten or be frightened”
Modern English
English
affright
“to terrify; a sudden fear or alarm”
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