the.com/terror
the body's oldest alarm, screaming in a language older than words.
means Intense, overwhelming fear — the kind that floods the body and freezes or scatters thought.
from From Latin 'terror,' fright or dread, rooted in the verb 'terrēre,' to frighten or scare away. It came into English through Old French 'terreur' in the late Middle Ages. The same Latin root sits behind 'terrible,' 'terrify,' and 'deter' — literally to frighten someone off a course.
french originThe word birthed the Reign of Terror, 1793
amygdala alertFear fires before your conscious mind notices threat
frozen responseTonic immobility plays dead when fight fails
dino nameDeinos means terrible, root of dinosaur
sublime cousinPhilosophers ranked terror as a source of beauty