From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto, from Proto-Germanic *furhtį̄ ("fear"), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k- ("to fear").
Cognate with Scots fricht ("fright"), Old Frisian fruchte ("fright"), Low German frucht ("fright"), Middle Dutch vrucht, German Furcht ("fear, fright"), Danish frygt ("fear"), Swedish fruktan ("fear, fright, dread"), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹 ("fear, horror, fright"). Compare possibly Albanian frikë ("fear, fright, dread, danger").
Probably short for affright, from Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht, past participle of āfyrhtan.
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