Etymologically
Log in

anxieux

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 18:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃k.sjø/[1]

Forms

anxieux (feminine anxieuse, masculine plural anxieux, feminine plural anxieuses)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin anxiōsus, a medical term of the 5th century,[2][3][4][5] derived from Latin anxius (“troubled; troubling”), from angō (“to squeeze, choke”), the source of angoisse.[2][6][7] The Grand Robert and Wiktionary derive it from “anxius” with the suffix “-eux”.[6][1] It replaced Old French forms inherited from “anxiōsus”, such as “ainsus” (12th century) and “entieus” (Froissart), which also meant “pensive, worried”.[2] Whereas “angoisse” had a concrete, physical value, “anxieux” and “anxiété” are psychological.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it from 1375 (Raoul de Presles);[6][3] Rey gives 1529, of things, and 1533, of people[2][8]; Bloch and Wartburg date it as a medical term from 1793 and call it rare before the 19th century.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

After going almost out of use, the word was taken up again in medicine (1793) and then in general use in the 19th century.[2][8][6] Anxieux de “eager to” (mid-19th century) is a calque of English anxious to; the noun un anxieux seems recent (Bernanos, 1929).[2]

Anxiété is much older (1190), with the senses “oppression” (1564) and “suffocation” (1585) in medicine.[2][8] Anxieusement is from 1823.[2]

Timeline

  • 1190 – Anxiété.[2]
  • 1375 – Anxieux (Raoul de Presles).[6][3]
  • 1529 – Of things; 1533, of people.[2]
  • 1793 – A medical term.[8][2]
  • 1823 – Anxieusement.[2]
  • mid-19th century – Anxieux de “eager to”.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Anxious, worried, uneasy: un candidat anxieux.[4][1]
  2. Showing anxiety: un regard anxieux, une attente anxieuse.[4][3]
  3. Anxieux de: eager to.[3][4]
  4. (medicine) Accompanied by anxiety: états anxieux.[4][3]

Noun

  1. An anxious person.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 667b
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  8. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France