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Origin and history of threat

threat(n.)

Middle English thret, threte, Northern thrat, from Old English þreat "crowd, troop, multitude" (senses now obsolete), also "oppression, coercion, menace," related to þreotan "to trouble, weary," from Proto-Germanic *thrautam (source also of Dutch verdrieten, German verdrießen "to vex").

According to Watkins this is from PIE *treud- "to push, press squeeze" (source also of Latin trudere "to press, thrust," Old Church Slavonic trudu "oppression," Middle Irish trott "quarrel, conflict," Middle Welsh cythrud "torture, torment, afflict").

From Middle English especially "a verbal menace." The sense of "conditional declaration of hostile intention" was in Old English.

Entries linking to threat

abstruse(adj.)

1590s, "remote from comprehension," from French abstrus (16c.) or directly from Latin abstrusus "hidden, concealed, secret," past participle of abstrudere "conceal, hide," literally "to thrust away," from assimilated form of ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + trudere "to thrust, push" (from PIE root *treud- "to press, push, squeeze;" see threat). Related: Abstrusely; abstruseness.

detrude(v.)

"to thrust or force down," 1540s, from Latin detrudere, from de "down" (see de-) + trudere "to thrust," "to thrust, push," from PIE *treud- "to press, push, squeeze" (see threat). Related: Detruded; detruding; detrusion.

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Trends of threat

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

intrude
early 15c., in an ecclesiastical sense, "take possession of (a prebend) not rightfully one's own," a back-formation from intrusion, or else from Latin intrudere "to thrust in, force in," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + trudere "to thrust, push," from PIE *treud- "to pres
intrusion
late 14c., "unjust invasion of property or usurpation of office," from Old French intrusion (14c.), from Medieval Latin intrusionem (nominative intrusio) "a thrusting in," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin intrudere "to thrust in, force in," from in- "in" (from PI
obtrude
1550s, "thrust forward forcibly or unduly" (trans.), from Latin obtrudere "to thrust into, press upon," from ob "in front of; toward" (see ob-) + trudere "to thrust," "to thrust, push," from PIE *treud- "to press, push, squeeze" (see threat). Intransitive sense of "be or become o
menace
"a threat or act of threatening," from Old French menace "menace, threat" (9c.), from Vulgar Latin minacia "threat, menace...
throe
þrawan "twist, turn, writhe" (see throw (v.)), or altered from Old English þrea (genitive þrawe) "affliction, pang, evil; threat..., persecution" (related to þrowian "to suffer"), from Proto-Germanic *thrawo (source also of Middle High German dro "threat...
ban
forbid" (source also of Old Frisian bonna "to order, command, proclaim," Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat...The sense evolution in Germanic was from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to (in Norse, German, etc.)...
scourge
c. 1200, "a whip used for inflicting pain or punishment, a lash used for torture," from Anglo-French scorge, escorge, back-formation from Old French scurge, eschurge "a whip, scourge, thong," from escorgier "to whip," which is from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare. This is a compound o
mortal
late 14c., "deadly, destructive to life; causing or threatening death" (of illness, poisons, wounds, etc.); also, of persons or the body, "doomed to die, subject to death;" from Old French mortel "destined to die; deserving of death" and directly from Latin mortalis "subject to d
declaration
late 14c., declaracioun, "an explanation, a statement, action of stating clearly," from Old French declaration and directly from Latin declarationem (nominative declaratio) "a making clear or evident, a disclosure, exposition," noun of action from past-participle stem of declarar

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