panic

1 an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety [syn: terror]

2 sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events; "panic in the stock market"; "a war scare"; "a bomb scare led them to evacuate the building" [syn: scare]

1 be overcome by a sudden fear; "The students panicked when told that final exams were less than a week away"

2 cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic; "The mere thought of an isolation cell panicked the prisoners" [also: panicking, panicked]

English

Etymology

From etyl frm panique, from etyl grc πανικός. Pan is the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.

Pronunciation

• a UK /ˈpanɪk/

• Rhymes: -ænɪk

Adjective

1. In the context of "now|_|rare": Pertaining to the god Pan.
2. Of fear, fright etc: sudden or overwhelming (attributed by the ancient Greeks to the influence of Pan).
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 pp. 57-8:

     All things were there in a disordered confusion, and in a confused furie, untill such time as by praiers and sacrifices they had appeased the wrath of their Gods. They call it to this day, the Panike terror.

Noun

1. Overpowering fright, often affecting groups of people or animals.

Derived terms

• panic attack
• panic button
• panic disorder
• panic room

Translations

Verb

1. To feel overwhelming fear.

Translations

Related terms

• panicky

Czech

Noun

1. male virgin

Slovak

Noun

1. male virgin

Related terms

• panna

For psychological condition, see Panic attack

• Fight-or-flight response
• Angst
• Collective behavior
• Emotion
• Fear
• Hysteria
• List of recessions
• Panic attack
• Panic disorder
• Penis panic

Footnotes

External links

• Panic! How it works and What To Do About It — by Bruce Tognazzini.
• Panic Sufferer Support Group
• Panic: Myth or Reality? — Professor Lee Clarke, Contexts Magazine.
• Bruce Schneier on the Myth of Panic
• Human Thinking in terms of processing layers — by Roger Bourke White Jr..

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