the.com/terrorism

means The use of violence or threats against civilians to spread fear and pressure a wider political outcome.

from Born in the French Revolution — specifically from 'régime de la terreur,' the Terror of 1793-94, when the revolutionary government under Robespierre used state execution and intimidation to crush opposition. The word originally named a government's tool against its own citizens, not a rebel's weapon against a state — a reversal in meaning worth savoring. It traces back further to Latin 'terrere,' to frighten. Only later did the word drift to describe non-state violence, the sense that dominates now.