dread

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To feel very afraid or anxious about something that is going to happen.

   I'm dreading the exam results next week.

2. 2
   noun

   A strong feeling of fear about something that may happen.

   My visit to the dentist fills me with dread.

From Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan (“to fear, dread”), aphetic form of ondrǣdan (“to fear, dread”), from Proto-West Germanic *andarādan, equivalent to Old English and- + rǣdan (whence read); corresponding to an aphesis of earlier adread. Akin to Old Saxon antdrādan, andrādan (“to fear, dread”), Old High German intrātan (“to fear”), Middle High German entrāten (“to fear, dread, frighten”).

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