Terrific
/təˈrɪf.ɪk/noun
Very good, impressive, or causing great fear or terror.
Did you know?Terrific entered English in the 1600s with the literal sense “causing terror,” and only later shifted into the positive slang meaning we use today.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ters-
“to tremble or dry up; the root behind fear-related Latin words”
Latin
Latin
terrēre
“to frighten, cause to tremble”
Latin
Latin
terrificus
“causing terror; terrifying”
16th Century
English
terrific
“causing terror; dreadful”
19th Century
English
terrific
“excellent, splendid; later also very intense”