köken: From Middle Dutch banghe, from be- + anghe. The latter word is an adverbial form of enge (“narrow, confined”), compare angst (“fear”). See also Middle Low German bange, Middle High German bange, German bang, West Frisian bang.
passive perfect participle of τρομάζω (tromázo): frightened, scared, spooked
köken: Passive perfect participle of τρομάζω (tromázo), a verb without passive forms. The ancient mediopassive participle of verb τρομέω (troméō, “tremble”) was τρομευμένος (tromeuménos).
frightening, scary, terrifying · frightened, scared, afraid · creepy for its mysterious ability
köken: Semantic shift from Classical Japanese 強(こは)し (kofashi, “stiff, strong, tough”), modern 強(こわ)い (kowai). A folk etymology from the Ehon Hyaku Monogatari derives it from 狐(こ)者(わ)異(い) (kowai, literally “ghost of a glutton”).
afraid, scared (in the mental state typical of fear)
köken: Originally a reduced form of *bailu, a u-stem parallel form to the archaic singular form baile of bailes “fear” (cf. Lithuanian bailùs (“afraid”)).