agoraphobia
/əˌɡɔːɹəˈfəʊbiə/uh-gaw-ruh-FOH-bee-uh
/əˌɡɔɹəˈfoʊbiə/uh-gaw-ruh-FOH-bee-uh
Meaningfear of the market place
Common meaning: fear of open or crowded places
- agora place of assembly, marketLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. · scan
- phobfear, panic flightLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 867 · scan
- ianoun ending (Latin/Greek) for a field or condition
‘a place of assembly, market’ + ‘fear, panic flight’ → agoraphobia
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- agor — Greek ἀγορά “a place of assembly, market” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- phob — Greek φόβος “fear, panic flight” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ἀγορά ‘a place of assembly, market’ + Greek φόβος ‘fear, panic flight’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry φόβος, p. 867 · dictionary scan
Roots
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app