Etymologically
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hypertension

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 16:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌhaɪ.pəˈtɛn.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ˌhaɪ.pɚˈtɛn.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English hyper- + tension,[2][3][4][5] and Merriam-Webster treats it as a word of the International Scientific Vocabulary.[6][7] The prefix means over, beyond or to excess, and comes from Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér, “over, beyond”),[4][8] from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over”).[4][8] Tension comes from French tension or directly from Latin tēnsiō (“a stretching”), from tēnsus, the past participle of tendō (“to stretch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”).[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Abnormally high pressure of the arterial blood: 1893, in the British Medical Journal.[2][6] Etymonline dates the word, also written hyper-tension, to 1863, in medical use.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word was first a medical term for high pressure of a bodily fluid, above all of the blood;[2] essential hypertension is high blood pressure with no apparent cause.[2][6] From 1918 it was also used of the fluid inside the eye.[2] From 1936 it also meant a state of great nervous or emotional tension.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1863 – first record, in medical use.[4]
  • 1893 – abnormally high arterial blood pressure.[2][6]
  • 1918 – high pressure of the fluid in the eye.[2]
  • 1936 – great nervous or emotional tension.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries.[6][10][2]
  2. The condition of having such blood pressure, with or without a known cause.[6][2]
  3. Abnormally high pressure of the fluid inside the eye.[2][3]
  4. A state of great nervous or emotional tension.[2][3]

Word family

  • hypertensive
  • antihypertension

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  8. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins