terrorism
nouncommon in dialogue
- //ˈtɛɹəɹɪzəm//
The use of unlawful violence against people or property to achieve political objectives.
noun
- 1
historicalThe system of fear and intimidation put into place during the Reign of Terror in Revolutionary France around 1793-94.
In England I was proscribed for having vindicated the French Revolution, and I have suffered a rigorous imprisonment in France for having pursued a similar mode of conduct. During the reign of terrorism, I was a close prisoner for eight long months, and remained so above three months after the era of the tenth Thermidor.
- 2
The use of unlawful violence against people or property to achieve political objectives.
- 3
The use of unlawful violence against people or property to achieve political objectives. The use of intimidation or bullying tactics.
We at the GCN Prisoner Project often get letters from prisoners who are being harassed (above and beyond the usual terrorism of the prison business) because of their being queer.
- 4
Variant of tourismDeliberate misspelling of tourism.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tres- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *troséyeti Proto-Italic *trozeō Latin terreō Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin terrorbor. Old French terreur Middle French terreur French terreur Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)bor. Latin -ismusbor. French -isme French terrorisme English terrorism From French terrorisme, from terreur + -isme. By surface analysis, terror + -ism. The word first appears in English in 1795 in reference to the Jacobin radicals of France, who ruled during the Reign of Terror.
Forms
- plural
- terrorisms
terrorism · The use of unlawful violence against people or property to achieve political objectives.
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