aggression

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈɡreʃ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French agression or directly Latin aggressiō (“a going to, an attack”),^[2][3][4][5] from the past participle stem of aggredior (“to approach, attack”),^[2][3][6] from ad (“to”) and gradior (“to step, walk”),^[3][6][4] from gradus (“a step”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *ghredh- (“to walk, go”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An unprovoked attack, the first attack in a quarrel: 1611 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1610s in Etymonline.^[7][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The practice of making attacks is in the OED from before 1704.^[7] The psychological sense, hostile or destructive behaviour, is recorded by 1912, in A. A. Brill's translation of Freud.^[3][7] The adjective aggressive is from the 19th century, perhaps after French.^[4]

Timeline

• 1611 – an unprovoked attack.^[7][2]
• before 1704 – the practice of attacking.^[7]
• 1912 – hostile behaviour (psychology).^[3][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An unprovoked attack or hostile action, especially by one country against another.
2. The practice or habit of attacking.
3. Hostile or destructive behaviour or attitude.

Word family

• antiaggression
• counteraggression

Related words

• aggress
• aggressive
• aggressor
• progress
• grade

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press