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From Proto-Italic*metu-, of uncertain origin. Klingenschmitt connects the word to Old Irishmoth(“astonishment”), which is semantically attractive; however, he does not explain the phonetic mechanisms by which the two words could be related.
carminibus metus omnis obest; perditus ēnsem haesūrum iugulō iam putō iamque meō.
Every fear is harmful to verses; I have already been destroyed, and now I suspect a sword will be stuck in my throat. (Even though the poet had been sentenced to live in exile he still feared for his life.)
^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “metus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 378