Word of the Day: Timorous
timorous
tim-or-ous / tĭm-ər-əs
adjective
1. fearful; shy; easily frightened; anxious
The weakest and most timorous are the most revengeful and implacable.
Thomas Fuller, 1608 – 1661
2. caused by fear or indicative of fear
When once a man has made celebrity necessary to his happiness, he has put it in the power of the weakest and most timorous malignity, if not to take away his satisfaction, at least to withhold it.
Samuel Johnson, 1709 – 1784
etymology
Through Middle English from the Middle French adjective timoreus (fearful), which comes from the Mediaeval Latin adjective timorosus, timorosa, timorosum of the same meaning, which is a combination of the Latin masculine noun timor, timoris (fear) [from the Latin verb timeo, timere, timui ___(fear, be afraid)] and the Latin adjectival suffix -osus, -osa, -osum (full of).
Thank you to Allen Ward for providing this etymology.
