consternation

[Fr. consternation; Sp. con sterna cion; Port. con sternação; Ital. conster nazi one, from Lat, consternatio (gen it, con sterna tion is )=consternation; conster no =to strew over, to bestrew: con = together, and sterno = to strew.) Such a combination of surprise, wonder, and terror as to literally or figuratively prostrate the individual thus affected. the chiefs around, In silence wrapp'd, in consternation drown'd, Attend the stern reply." Pope: Homer's Iliad , bk. ix., 1. 556-8. *con-stille', v. t. [Pref. con, and Eng. still (q.v.).] To distill, to drop. "Som drope of thi grace adowne to me constille." Lydgate: Minor Poems, p. 62.