Threat
/θrɛt/noun
A statement or indication of an intention to cause harm, damage, or punishment.
Did you know?English threat is related to Old English þrēat, meaning ‘pressure, oppression, troop, or crowd,’ showing how danger was once imagined as a force bearing down on you.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*treud-
“to press, push, crowd”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*þreutō
“pressure, crowd, troop”
Old English
English
þrēat
“pressure, oppression, troop, menace”
Middle English
English
thret
“menace, threat”
Modern English
English
threat
“a declaration of intent to cause harm or punishment”