Terror \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.

Note: 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)