awe en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- [ɒː] (Eastern-New-England) without the father-bother merger
- [ɑ] ~ [ɒ] (Inland-Northern-American)
- [ɒː] ~ [ɔː] ~ [o̞ː] (Northern-England)
- /oː/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- /ɔ/ without the cot–caught merger
- [ɔ̞] ~ [ɔ] General American, non-merged
- [ɔ̝ː] ~ [o̞ː] (Received-Pronunciation)
- /oː/ (British, Southern, Standard)
- (US) audio cot-caught
- /ɔ/ (Scotland)
- [oə̯] ~ [ʊə̯] New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore
- [ɑ] General American, merged
- [o̝ː] (Australia, New-Zealand)
- [ɑɒ̯] ~ [ɒɔ̯] (Southern-US)
- /ɑ/ (cot-caught-merger)
- (Southern-England) audio
- [ɒ] ~ [ɔ̞] low-back-merger shift
- [o̞ː] ~ [oː] (British, Southern, Standard)
- [ɔː] (Scotland)
- /ɔː/ (Northern-England)
- [ä] ~ [ɑ̟] North-Central US
- /ɔː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From Middle English aw, awe, agh, awȝe, borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, dread”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰ- (“to be upset, afraid”). Displaced native Middle English eye, eyȝe, ayȝe, eȝȝe, from Old English ege, æge (“fear, terror, dread”), from the same Proto-Germanic root.
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) A feeling of fear and reverence.
Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 Feb 2013, page 172:
-
(uncountable, usually) A feeling of amazement.
For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distant planet had we suddenly been miraculously transported through ether to an unknown world.
1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:In 1825, the first public railway carried passengers across the English countryside, setting in motion not just an engineering revolution, but an industrial one too. Imagine the awe and excitement of those first passengers as they boarded the train, unaware that they were witnessing the dawn of a new era.
2025 October 1, Richard Evans, “The value of the railway effect”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 58:
- (archaic, uncountable, usually) Power to inspire awe.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| awes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
awesome · awestricken · shock and awe · overawe · awe-inspiring · underawe · awebound · aweless · awestruck · aweful · awful · awe walk · awestrike · inawe
Translations (76)
ru благогове́ние (feeling of fear and reverence) · ca astorament (feeling of amazement) · sv fruktan (feeling of fear and reverence) · sv förundran (feeling of amazement) · ca paüra (feeling of fear and reverence) · hu bámulat (feeling of amazement) · la formido (feeling of fear and reverence) · pt admiração (feeling of amazement) · hu tisztelet (feeling of fear and reverence) · pl groza (feeling of fear and reverence) · pt temor (feeling of fear and reverence) · fa تعجب (feeling of amazement) · sv förvåning (feeling of amazement) · de Ehrfurcht (feeling of fear and reverence) · da ærefrygt (feeling of amazement) · fi ällistys (feeling of amazement) · cs úžas (feeling of amazement) · nl ontzag (feeling of fear and reverence) · fi kunnioittava pelko (feeling of fear and reverence) · grc ἄγος (feeling of fear and reverence) · ca temor (feeling of fear and reverence) · pl zachwyt (feeling of amazement) · hu megilletődés (feeling of fear and reverence) · nb ærefrykt (feeling of fear and reverence) · de Staunen (feeling of amazement) · fi syvä kunnioitus (feeling of fear and reverence) · sk úcta hraničiaca so strachom (feeling of fear and reverence) · es medrosía (feeling of fear and reverence) · tr huşu (feeling of fear and reverence) · bg благоговение (feeling of fear and reverence) · hu megilletődöttség (feeling of fear and reverence) · cs hrůza (feeling of fear and reverence) · cs strach (feeling of fear and reverence) · pl trwoga (feeling of fear and reverence) · cmn 敬畏 (feeling of fear and reverence) · es pavor (feeling of fear and reverence) · nl vrees (feeling of fear and reverence) · sv extas (feeling of amazement) · fi pelonsekainen kunnioitus (feeling of fear and reverence) · ar ذُهُول (feeling of amazement) · fr crainte (feeling of fear and reverence) · ru тре́пет (feeling of fear and reverence) · ca esbalaïment (feeling of amazement) · sv bestörtning (feeling of amazement) · it timore (feeling of fear and reverence) · cs ohromení (feeling of amazement) · es asombro (feeling of amazement) · ar هَيْبَة (feeling of fear and reverence) · fr admiration (feeling of amazement) · pl podziw (feeling of fear and reverence) · da ærefrygt (feeling of fear and reverence) · hu áhítat (feeling of fear and reverence) · eo admirego (feeling of amazement) · tr huşu (feeling of amazement) · mk стравопо́чит (feeling of fear and reverence) · fi pelko (feeling of fear and reverence) · sv bävan (feeling of fear and reverence) · hu félelem (feeling of fear and reverence) · es temor (feeling of fear and reverence) · fi hämmästys (feeling of amazement) · ru изумле́ние (feeling of amazement) · el σέβας (feeling of fear and reverence) · sv häpnad (feeling of amazement) · sk bázeň (feeling of fear and reverence) · pt espanto (feeling of amazement) · pl respekt (feeling of fear and reverence) · sk úžas (feeling of amazement) · el κατάπληξη (feeling of amazement) · eo miro (feeling of amazement) · hu csodálat (feeling of amazement) · sh strahopoštovanje (feeling of fear and reverence) · bg страхопочитание (feeling of fear and reverence) · hu lenyűgözöttség (feeling of amazement) · cs údiv (feeling of amazement) · el δέος (feeling of fear and reverence) · fr révérence (feeling of fear and reverence)