Etymologically
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anxiety

Etymology and origin of the English word anxiety

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1525
Ultimate origin
Latin (anxietas)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /æŋˈzaɪ.ə.ti/, /æŋɡˈzaɪ.ə.ti/[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Latin ānxietās (“anguish, solicitude”),[2][3][4] from ānxius “uneasy, troubled in mind”, the source of anxious.[2][3] French anxiété was used as a medical term from the 12th century, but it is not known whether English writers knew it.[3][5] It is related to anguish and angina.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Uneasiness or trouble of mind about something uncertain: about 1525, in the works of Sir Thomas More, according to the OED and Barnhart.[7][3] MWU dates its first known use to the 15th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

As a medical condition of agitation and depression with a feeling of tightness in the chest it is from 1661.[7][2] Eager or solicitous desire to do something is from 1769.[7] In psychiatry, a morbid state of excessive fear, it is from 1904.[7][2] Age of Anxiety is from Auden's poem of 1947.[7][2] Old English had angsumnes and Middle English anxumnesse for anxiety.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1525 – uneasiness of mind.[7][3]
  • 1661 – a medical condition.[7]
  • 1769 – eager desire.[7]
  • 1904 – in psychiatry.[7][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A feeling of worry and nervousness about something uncertain.
  2. Something that causes worry.
  3. (psychiatry) A state of intense fear and apprehension, often out of proportion to the threat.
  4. A strong wish to do something: anxiety to please.

Word family

  • antianxiety
  • separation anxiety
  • anxiety neurosis
  • anxious
  • anguish
  • angina

Usage notes

Anxiety, worry, care, concern and solicitude all refer to troubled states of mind, and anxiety suggests fear and apprehension, especially when these seem unrelated to a real cause.[8]

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 e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Anxiety.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/anxiety. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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