Etymology: Old English fǽr (the rare southern Middle English fore may represent a variant *fár; compare swár = swǽr), strong masculine, sudden calamity, danger, corresponds to Old Saxon fâr ambush (Middle Dutch vaer), and except for the difference of declension to Middle Dutch vâre, feminine, fear (compare modern Dutch gevaar, neuter, danger), Old High German fâra, feminine, ambush, stratagem, danger (Middle High German vâre; compare Middle High German gevæ̂re, feminine and neuter, modern German gefahr, feminine), Old Norse fár, neuter, misfortune, plague; the noun ( < Germanic *fæ̂ro-z, fæ̂ro(m, fæ̂râ) is not recorded in Gothic, which however has the derivative fêrja lier in wait. The base fæ̂r- ( < pre-Germanic pēr- ) is probably one of the ablaut forms of the Aryan root per to go through (see fare v.¹), but the genesis of the sense is not clear; the current comparison with Greek πεῖρα, Latin perīculum trial, attempt, risk, seems to be misleading.

Etymology: Old English fǽran ( < *fæ̂rjan ) weak verb to terrify, < fæ̂r (see fear n.); parallel derivatives in other Germanic languages, with senses varying according to those of the primary noun, are Old Saxon fârôn to lie in wait; Middle Dutch vaeren to fear; Old High German fârên, to plot against, to lie in wait, to endeavour after (Middle High German vâren in same senses, also, rarely, to fear); Old Norse fǽra to taunt, slight.