queasy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkwiː.zi/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, kyse, coisy or qweysy,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} of uncertain origin.^[4][6] It may be of Scandinavian origin, compare Old Norse iðra-kveisa “bowel pains”,^[2][3][4] or influenced by Anglo-French queisier “to hurt, make uneasy”,^[3][4] apparently from the same Germanic root.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of food, unsettling to the stomach (about 1450),^[3][4] and of times or affairs, unsettled or troublous (1459).^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the 1540s the word was used of people or the stomach, “inclined to nausea”.^[4][7] Figurative senses followed: delicate or fastidious (1545) and tender in conscience (1579).^[7] It now means both nauseated and uneasy.^[2][5][6]

Timeline

• about 1450 – causing nausea.^[3][4]
• 1459 – of affairs, unsettled, now obsolete.^[7]
• 1545 – of the stomach, easily upset.^[7][4]
• 1579 – of the conscience, tender.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Feeling sick; nauseated.
2. Causing nausea.
3. Uneasy or troubled.
4. Easily troubled; squeamish.

Word family

• queasily
• queasiness

Usage notes

Random House gives upset, troubled, anxious and worried as synonyms of the sense “uneasy”.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
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