worry English · revision 3029

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ine-pro *wergh-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈwʌr.i/, US /ˈwɝː.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|worien|t=to strangle, choke]],^(Barnhart 1988) an alteration of earlier werien, wirien,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|wyrgan|t=to strangle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*wurgijaną|alt=*wurgjan]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Middle Dutch worghen (Dutch worgen, wurgen), Old High German wurgen (German würgen) “to strangle” and Old Norse virgill “rope”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and outside Germanic with Lithuanian veržti “to bind tightly”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*wergh-|t=to choke]].^(Barnhart 1988) Watkins derives it from [[ine-pro|*wer-|t=to turn, bend]].^(Etymonline) The spelling with -or- shows the influence of r on the vowel before it, as in [[wolf]] and [[worm]].^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is from the verb.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To kill by squeezing the throat, to strangle: about 725 in the OED,^(OED 1989) before 800 in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) In Middle English, from about 1300, it was used of a dog or wolf killing or wounding an animal by biting and shaking its throat.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Middle Ages it also meant “to choke with a mouthful of food” and “to swallow greedily”.^(Cresswell 2021)^(COED 2004) The sense “to strangle” was generally obsolete after about 1600.^(Etymonline) Harassing by rough treatment is first recorded before 1553;^(Barnhart 1988) it led to “to annoy, bother”, first found in Milton's ''Samson Agonistes'' (1671),^(Barnhart 1988) though Etymonline finds “annoy, vex” by about 1400.^(Etymonline) “To cause mental distress” is from 1822,^(Etymonline) and the intransitive “to feel anxious” from 1860,^(Etymonline) at first thought rather informal.^(Cresswell 2021) The noun, a troubled state of mind, is from 1804,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and a cause of anxiety from 1813.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Worrisome'' is from 1845^(Barnhart 1988) and ''worry beads'' from 1964.^(OED 1989) In Scottish and northern English dialect the old sense “to choke, strangle” survived.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to strangle.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to bite and shake by the throat.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1553 – to harass.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1671 – to annoy, bother.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1804 – noun, anxiety.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1813 – a cause of anxiety.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1822 – to cause distress.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1860 – to feel anxious.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1964 – ''worry beads''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To feel uneasy or concerned; to be troubled.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make [[anxious]] or troubled.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To bother or [[annoy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of a dog, to seize with the teeth and shake or [[tug]] repeatedly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To touch or handle idly and repeatedly.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A state of [[anxiety]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Something that causes anxiety.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[worrier]]

+ * [[worriedly]]

+ * [[worryingly]]

+ * [[worriless]]

+ * [[worried]]

+ * [[worriment]]

+ * [[worrywart]]

+ * [[worrisome]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wring]]

+ * [[wrong]]

+ * [[wreath]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Worrying, the American Heritage notes, may shorten life, but not as quickly as it once did, when the verb meant “to strangle”.^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}