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by mellosouls 2171 days ago

I don't remember hearing it used in that way before; I think you would have to go back a couple of centuries for that usage.

You can be confident that you won't need that definition in your own usage unless you decide to write an 18th century character or something.

To add to the etymology links (I was also intrigued):

1 comments

I always think of the famous Hindenburg crash tape. "it's a terrific crash" 1937 for those, like me, that weren't sure of the decade.

Sure - but that is "terrific" in the still-current sense of "massive, of great size" - not the archaic use in the parent.

The only reason I remember that use is because it sounded out of place to me.

This posting [1] puts the usage change from around 1880-1930. I've always taken the modern usage to mean unusually fine/magnificent.