Geek Trivia: The English Word Panic Traces Its Roots Back To?

The Greek God of Nature 18th Century English Medicine The French Revolution Spanish Sailors geek-trivia-the-english-word-panic-traces-its-roots-back-to photo 1

geek-trivia-the-english-word-panic-traces-its-roots-back-to photo 2

Answer: The Greek God of Nature

The English word “panic”, a state of extreme fear that renders one unable to think or act rationally, entered into the English language during the early 1600s via the French word “panique” (which shares the same definition).

In turn, French gained the word by borrowing the Greek word “panikon” which literally means “pertaining to Pan”. Pan, the Greek god who presided over nature, wilderness, as well as shepherds and their flocks, was considered responsible for the mysterious and unidentifiable sounds one hears while out in the wild. As such, that rustle or animal cry that sends your heart racing and you in turn running through the forest in fear is “of Pan” and the source of your panic.

More stories

8 Things You Can Do with Quicktime on OS X

OS X’s Quicktime Player isn’t VLC, which is important to remember, but it’s capable and does a lot of cool things you might not have known about. Here are 8 things Quicktime Player can do beyond play movies and videos.

How to Extract and Save Images from a PDF File in Linux

You can easily convert PDF files to editable text in Linux using the “pdftotext” command line tool. However, if there are any images in the original PDF file, they are not extracted. To extract images from a PDF file, you can use another command line tool called “pdfimages”.

How to Get the Best Possible Price for Airfare Online

As more and more travel agents are forced to hang fresh ‘For Lease’ signs in their windows, the Internet has taken up the mantle of helping aspirational aeronautic enthusiasts shop, compare, and purchase tickets for their next airborne adventure. But with so many different travel and hotel sites

How to Make a Program Run at Startup on Any Computer

Programs you install often add themselves to the startup process on Windows, Mac OS X, and even Linux. But you can also add your own favorite programs to the startup process and have them launch automatically after you log into your computer.