terrorist

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person, group, or organization that uses violent action, or the threat of violent action, to further political goals.
  2. An agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France.
  3. Deliberate misspelling of tourist.
adj
  1. Of or relating to terrorism.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɛɹəɹɪst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-terrorist.wav

Word forms

terrorist terrorists

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tres- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *troséyeti Proto-Italic *trozeō Latin terreō Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin terrorbor. Old French terreur Middle French terreurbor. Middle English terrour English terror Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)der. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English terrorist From terror + -ist. In the historical sense, after French terroriste. First used in 1794 in the Courier and Evening Gazette.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.