Etymograph

English

scelerophobia

Scelerophobia comes from Latin scelus ‘an evil deed’, from Proto-Indo-European *skel-os ~ *skel-es-os ‘curve, bending’, and perhaps ultimately from *skel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skel-1‘to curve, bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skel-os ~ *skel-es-os1‘curve, bending’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skelos1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscelus2‘an evil deed’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2023scelerophobia2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin scelus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English scelerophobia
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Abby Roch: “She added that if someone is experiencing a high…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skel-Wiktionary, Latin scelus‘to curve, bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skel-os ~ *skel-es-osWiktionary, Latin scelus‘curve, bending’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skelosWiktionary, Latin scelusuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscelusWiktionary, English scelerophobia‘an evil deed’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2023scelerophobiaWiktionary, English scelerophobia. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Abby Roch: “She added that if someone is experiencing a high…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skel- ‘to curve, bend’

shall, squeal, 3 more

Today it means

noun The fear of crime, burglars or thieves.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scelerophobia”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin scelus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *skel- / scelerophobia

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