Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Latin word anxiosus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
5th century AD, Caelius Aurelianus
Ultimate origin
Latin anxius
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin anxius
English anxious
Latin anxiosus
French anxieux

Forms

anxiōsus (feminine anxiōsa, neuter anxiōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin anxius (“anxious”) + -ōsus.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only ancient author is the physician Caelius Aurelianus, who calls something distressing for those about to sleep, and speaks of difficult or troubled sleep.[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Though rare in ancient texts, it lived on in the Romance languages: the TLL points to Italian and Spanish ⟨ansioso⟩,[5] and Conte derives Italian ansioso from it.[4]

Timeline

  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of troubled sleep.[5][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Full of anxiety, troubled; causing distress.[1][2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Anxiosus.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/anxiosus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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