Etymologically
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trouble

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtrʌb.ᵊl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English troublen,[2][3] borrowed from Old French trubler (“to disturb, make cloudy”),[2][4] a form of turbler with the sounds swapped,[2][4] from Vulgar Latin *turbulāre,[2][4][3] from Late Latin turbidāre (“to trouble, make turbid”),[2][4] from Latin turbidus (“disordered, muddy”),[2][4][5] from turba (“crowd, disturbance”).[5] The noun is from Old French truble.[2][6] It is related to turbid, disturb, perturb and turbulent.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, to disturb or agitate: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,[4] and about 1200 in Etymonline as “to cause mental agitation”.[2] The noun, agitation of the mind: about 1200,[2] and about 1230 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

“To inflict suffering on” is from the mid-14th century,[2] and to stir up water or air from 1340.[7] The noun was used of the agitation of the sea by about 1400, and of confusion and disorder generally.[2] A cause of worry is from the early 15th century,[2] public disturbance from the 14th century,[8] unpleasant relations with the authorities from the 1550s,[2] and the troubles, public unrest, from the 1510s.[2] The polite “to put to inconvenience”, as in requests and apologies, is by the 1510s.[2] Faulty working of a machine, as in engine trouble, is from 1902,[7] and trouble and strife, rhyming slang for “wife”, from 1908.[2][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – mental agitation.[2]
  • 1340 – to stir up water.[7]
  • c. 1400 – of the sea; disorder.[2]
  • 1510s – to bother with requests, and the troubles.[2]
  • 1550s – trouble with the authorities.[2]
  • 1902 – a malfunction.[7]
  • 1908 – trouble and strife.[2][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A state of distress, difficulty or danger.
  2. A cause of distress or difficulty.
  3. Effort or inconvenience: it's no trouble.
  4. A malfunction or ailment: heart trouble.
  5. Public unrest or disturbance.

Verb

  1. To cause worry or distress to.
  2. To afflict with pain.
  3. To inconvenience or bother.
  4. To stir up or agitate water.

Word family

  • troubler
  • troublingly
  • troubledly
  • troubledness
  • troubleproof
  • troublous
  • troubled
  • troublemaker
  • turbid
  • turbulent
  • disturb
  • perturb
  • turbine

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 h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press