angor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈaŋ.ɡɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaŋ.ɡor]^[1]

Forms

angor m (genitive angōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from angō “to squeeze, strangle” with the suffix -or.^[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs an old s-stem noun, Proto-Italic ⟨*angos-⟩, Proto-Indo-European *h₂emǵʰ-os (“narrowness, anxiety”), which must have been the base of angustus even though ⟨angor⟩ itself is attested relatively late.^[3] Cognate with Sanskrit अंहस् (áṃhas, “distress”) and Old High German angust (“fear”).^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first source is Cicero, whom Köbler dates 81–43 BC.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant suffocation, choking, as in Livy, and Pliny the Elder uses it of quinsy in animals.^[2][6] In Cicero it meant mental distress, anguish, anxiety.^[2]

Aldhelm and Bede used it for pain and grief, and British Medieval Latin also for spite.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of anguish.^[3][2][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of choking.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Suffocation, choking; quinsy.^[2][6]
2. Anguish, anxiety.^[2]

Word family

• angustus

Related words

• angō
• anxius
• English anguish

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press