Ter"ror (?), n. [L. terror, akin to
terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. ? to flee
away, dread, Skr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ.
triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter.]
1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind;
violent dread; fright.
Terror seized the rebel host.
Milton.
2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme
fear.
Those enormous terrors of the Nile.
Prior.
Rulers are not a terror to good works.
Rom. xiii. 3.
There is no terror, Cassius, in your
threats.
Shak.
☞ Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are
generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught, terror-giving,
terror-smitten, terror-stricken, terror-struck, and
the like.
King of terrors, death. Job xviii. 14.
-- Reign of Terror. (F. Hist.) See in
Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.
Syn. -- Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See
Alarm.