French

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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /e.fʁɛ.je/ ~ /e.fʁe.je/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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effrayer

  1. (transitive) to frighten, to scare, to affray
    Synonyms: épouvanter, faire peur, horrifier, terrifier, terroriser
    • 2018, Zaz, Je parle:
      C’est le silence qui m’effraie.
      It's silence that frightens me.

Conjugation

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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).

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Further reading

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