Dreadnought
/ˈdrɛd.nɔːt/noun
A heavily armored battleship or, more broadly, something built to be overwhelmingly powerful or unstoppable.
Did you know?Dreadnought was first used for a giant warship in 1906, but the word is older: Shakespeare used it for a fearless person, built from the dread + nought formula meaning “fear nothing.”
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
drǣdan
“to fear; be afraid”
Old English
OE
nāwiht / naught
“nothing, not anything”
16th Century
English
dread nought
“fear nothing; a fearless person”
17th Century
English
dreadnought
“a fearless person or thing that fears nothing”
1906
English
Dreadnought
“the name given to HMS Dreadnought, a revolutionary battleship”