verb/e.fʁɛ.je/
to frighten, to scare, to affray
“C'est le silence qui m'effraie.” — It's silence that frightens me.
Synonyms: épouvanter, faire peur, horrifier, terrifier, terroriser
Inherited from Middle French effreer, from Old French esfreer, esfreder (whence also English affray), from a Vulgar Latin *exfridāre, itself of Germanic origin (with the prefix ex- added), from a Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”).