anxiété

Forms

anxiété f (plural anxiétés)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ānxietās (“anxiety, a disposition to worry”), borrowed in 1190.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed on ānxius (“anxious”),^[2][3][5] from angō (“to squeeze, choke”).^[6][5] It belongs to the same family as angoisse, which is inherited from Latin angustia.^[5]

Littré compares Old Occitan anxietat and Italian ansietà.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1190, in Herman de Valenciennes, in the psychological sense of worry or distress.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the word is found only now and then; it came back in the 16th century, helped by anxieux.^[2][3] Robert Estienne's Latin–French dictionary of 1531 renders Latin anxietas by anxiete, anguish of body as well as of mind.^[7] Like angoisse it then also took a physical sense, “oppression” in 1564 and even “suffocation” in 1585.^[2][4]

Unlike anxieux, the noun stayed in use in the 17th century, with a moral or psychological sense, as in Furetière (1690).^[2] It became more common in medicine from 1751, and in general use in the 18th century, at about the time anxieux came back into use.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1190 – First recorded, in Herman de Valenciennes.^[2][4]
• 1531 – Robert Estienne uses anxiete to translate Latin anxietas.^[7][8]
• 1564 – It is used in medicine for oppression.^[3][4][2]
• 1585 – It is used for suffocation.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records it in a moral sense.^[2]
• 1751 – It becomes more common in medicine.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (medicine) A disturbed mental state caused by the feeling that something bad or dangerous is about to happen, often with physical symptoms such as a tight feeling in the chest: compare angoisse.^[8][3][9]
2. Great worry caused by waiting for or fearing an event: Ils attendaient les résultats dans l'anxiété.^[8][10][11]
3. (rare) An intense, eager longing, the tension of an expectation felt as pleasure.^[9]

Related words

• anxieux
• angoisse
• Latin ānxietās
• English anxiety

Usage notes

Littré treats inquiétude, anxiété and angoisse as three degrees of the same state, anxiété being the middle one.^[6]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)