dire
/ˈdaɪə/
adjective
Origin
Latin
dirus — fearful, awful, ominous
Overview
Meaning Now
- Extremely serious or urgent.
- Indicating or foreboding disaster; ominous.
Literal older meaning
fearful or terrible
Language path
Latin → English
Earliest form
dirus
Earliest period
16th century
Journey
The word entered English during the Renaissance, reflecting the humanist practice of directly adopting Latin adjectives to express intensity and gravity in formal and literary writing.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*dei-
“to fear, to be afraid”
- Latin
dirus
“fearful, dreadful”
Direct source of English loanword
- English
dire
“causing or involving great fear or suffering”
Introduced in the early 16th century
Connections
Word parts
dire
root
dreadful
Related across languages
Latin
dirus
fearful
Italian
diro
terrible
Explore next
Related to dire
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.