effrayer

== French == === Etymology === Inherited from Middle French effreer, from Old French esfreer, esfreder (whence also English affray), from a Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, itself of Germanic origin (with the prefix ex- added), from a Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /e.fʁɛ.je/ ~ /e.fʁe.je/ === Verb === effrayer (transitive) to frighten, to scare, to affray Synonyms: épouvanter, faire peur, horrifier, terrifier, terroriser ==== Conjugation ==== This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer), the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference). ==== Related terms ==== effraie effroi effroyable === Further reading === “effrayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012