Etymologically
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irritation

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/[1]
  • US: /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈteɪ.ʃən/, /ˌɪɹ.əˈteɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English irritacion,[2] borrowed from Latin irrītātiō (“incitement, stimulus; irritation, anger”),[2][3][4] partly through Old French irritacion,[2][3] a noun of action from irrītātus, the past participle of irrītō (“to excite, provoke”).[3][5][4][6] The OED treats the modern word, recorded from 1589, as taken directly from Latin, comparing the French word of the 14th and 15th centuries.[4] The origin of the Latin verb is uncertain.[7][3] Barnhart and Klein take it as the intensive of an unrecorded *irrīre, to stir up, related to Ancient Greek ὀρίνω (orínō, “to stir up, excite”) and going back to Proto-Indo-European *erei- (“to set in motion”);[7][5] Etymonline reports de Vaan's view that it is probably formed from Proto-Italic *rito- (“stirred”), from the root of run.[3] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins connects it with īra (“anger”), the source of ire.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, the stimulation of a sore or a morbid swelling: about 1425, in the Middle English Chauliac.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word first belonged to medicine,[2][3] and the general sense "stirring up, incitement" followed in 1589; the OED counts it obsolete by the 19th century except as a transfer from the other senses.[4][8] The medical sense of making a part of the body over-sensitive or mildly inflamed is recorded again from 1686, in Boyle.[4][9] The modern meaning, anger or impatience, appears only in 1703,[4][3] in the early 18th century,[8][9] and later took in the thing that causes it.[9][10] Johnson (1755) gave "provocation; exasperation" first and the physical "stimulation" second.[11] From 1794, in E. Darwin's Zoonomia, physiology used the word for the stimulation of an organ or tissue to some vital action, such as a muscle's contraction.[4][12]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – in medicine, stimulation of a sore or swelling.[2]
  • 1589 – stirring up, incitement (now obsolete).[4]
  • 1686 – excessive sensitivity or mild inflammation of a part of the body.[4]
  • 1703 – anger, impatience, annoyance.[4][3]
  • 1755 – Johnson: provocation, exasperation; stimulation.[11]
  • 1794 – in physiology, the stimulation of an organ or tissue to respond.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A feeling of mild anger or impatience; annoyance: She could not hide her irritation at the delay.[10][12][4]
  2. Something that annoys: The barking dog next door was a constant irritation.[10][9]
  3. Soreness, itching or mild inflammation of a part of the body: The cream caused irritation of the skin.[4][9]
  4. (physiology) The stimulation of an organ, tissue or muscle so that it responds, as by contracting.[4][9][12]
  5. (obsolete, 1589–1859) The action of stirring up or provoking to activity; incitement.[4][9]

Word family

  • irritative
  • irritable
  • irritate
  • irritant
  • counterirritant

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster