(Ang. Saxon afered.)
Afraid; frightened; terrified.--Todd's Johnson.
This is a good old English word, though now considered a vulgarism; and as common in ancient times, as afraid is at present. It is provincial in various parts of England, and among uneducated persons in the United States.
A gret ok he coolde breide a doun, as it a smal gerdo were,
And here forth in his honde, that fole forte afere.
Robt. of Gloucester.
With scalled browes blake, and pilled bend;
Of his visage children were sore aferd?
Chaucer, Cant. Tales.
Hal! art thou not horribly afeard?
Shakspeare, Henry IV.
Chin as woolly as the peach,
And his lips should kissing teach,
Till he cherished too much beard,
And made love or me afear'd.--Ben Jonson, Her Man described.
It has been supposed, that in Chaucer's time, there was a difference between the significations of afeard and afraid, as in one instance he employs both in the same verse.
His wife was neither afeard nor afraid.--Canterbury Tales.
The following are examples of the use of the word by American writers:
I an't afeared of the old Harry himself, but I vum! I never dare speak to Rhody.--Margaret, p.87.
I promised when I caught him, to give him a licking, and I was afear'd I'd have to break the peace.
-- J. C. Neal, Sketches.