Etymograph

English

horrible

Horrible comes from Middle English horrible, from Old French horrible, from Latin horribilis, from horreō ‘to tremble’ + -ibilis.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhorreō1‘to tremble’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhorribilis1‘horrible’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400horrible1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500horrible1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1851horrible1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English horrible
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or: “Here's a carcase. I know not all that may…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhorreōWiktionary, English horrible‘to tremble’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhorribilisWiktionary, English horrible‘horrible’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400horribleWiktionary, English horrible
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500horribleWiktionary, English horrible
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1851horribleWiktionary, English horrible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or: “Here's a carcase. I know not all that may…”

first attested First attested in Middle English (alternately as horrible and orrible) in 1303: from Old French horrible, orrible, orible, from Latin horribilis, from horr(ēre) (“tremble”) + -ibilis (“-ible”) (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in Middle English (alternately as horrible and orrible) in 1303: from Old French horrible, orrible, orible, from Latin horribilis, from horr(ēre) (‘tremble’) + -ibilis (‘-ible’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun A thing that causes horror; a terrifying thing, particularly a prospective bad consequence asserted as likely to result from an act.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “horrible”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin horreō / horrible