strenuous

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin strēnuus (“brisk, active, vigorous”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} with the suffix -ous.^[2][4][5] The Latin adjective is probably related to Ancient Greek στρηνής (strēnḗs, “strong, hard, rough”) and στρῆνος (strênos, “haughtiness, arrogance”),^[2][7][5][3] and to Old English styrne (“harsh, strict”), the source of stern.^[5][3][7] Klein derives these words from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff, rigid”), the source of stare.^[7] Partridge instead connects the Latin word with strēna (“a good omen; a gift”), the source of French étrenne.^[8] The OED compares Italian strenuo and Spanish estrénuo.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb strenuously, vigorously, is recorded before 1460,^[9][5][3] but the adjective only at the end of the 16th century: in 1599 according to Merriam-Webster,^[10] and in 1602, in Marston's Antonio's Revenge, according to the OED, of persons vigorous and energetic in action.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED thinks Marston was apparently the first to use the word, and Ben Jonson mocked it as a pedantic novelty in Poetaster (1601 or 1602), quoting Marston's line.^[2][3] It soon settled in: Milton's Samson Agonistes (1671) applied it to effort itself, the sense now usual, "requiring or showing great energy".^[2][5][3] The sense "zealous, earnest", of a partisan, is recorded from 1713,^[2] and Johnson (1755) gave "brave, bold, active, valiant" and "zealous, vehement".^[11] For a time it was also used of things, "strong, powerful" (1632–1633), and of a voice, "loud" (from 1680, now archaic).^[2]

Timeline

• 1599 – of persons, vigorously active, energetic.^[10] The OED's first quotation is from Marston, 1602.^[10][2]
• 1632 – of things, strong, powerful (obsolete).^[2]
• 1671 – of action or effort, vigorous, requiring great energy.^[2][5]
• 1680 – of a voice, powerful, loud (archaic).^[2]
• 1713 – zealous, earnest as a partisan.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Needing or using great effort or energy; arduous: a strenuous climb.^{[12][10][13][2]}
2. Vigorously active; energetic or zealous: They made strenuous efforts to stop the plan.^[12][10][2]

Word family

• strenuosity
• strenuously
• strenuousness
• superstrenuous
• unstrenuous

Related words

• stern
• stare

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
9. ^ 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)
10. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ 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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press