Mind & EmotionGreek → English
Thanatophobia
/ˌθænətəˈfoʊbiə/noun
A disabling fear of death or of dying.
The Greek roots
θάνατος
thánatos
death
φόβος
phóbos
fear, panic
Literally: “fear of death”
The story of the word
Θάνατος was death personified, twin brother of Ὕπνος, sleep, in Hesiod; in the Iliad the two of them carry Sarpedon's body home. Freud's followers rather than Freud himself made Thanatos the name of the death drive. In clinical use thanatophobia usually means dread of the process of dying, which is not the same thing as fear of being dead.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
euthanasiathanatologyphobia
In a sentence
The thanatophobia surfaced whenever he had to sit in a waiting room.