stress English · revision 3759

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping, borrowing|attested=1303|origins=la stringō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /stres/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|stresse|t=hardship, coercion]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) partly a shortening of [[m|enm|destresse]], the ancestor of [[distress]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and partly [[bor|fro|estrece|t=narrowness, oppression]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-vul|*strictia]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|strictus|t=tight, compressed]], past participle of [[m|la|stringere|t=to draw tight]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is partly from Old French estrecier “to constrain”, from Vulgar Latin *strictiāre.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[strict]], [[strait]] and [[strain]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Hardship, adversity, and force used to compel someone: 1303, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne'',^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) senses now mostly archaic or obsolete.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Great strain or anguish is from probably about 1380, in ''Pearl''.^(Barnhart 1988) Physical strain on an object is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) The figurative “weight, importance, emphasis” is from the 1650s, perhaps from the idea of pressure put on something by relying on it,^(Etymonline) and the stress of the voice on a syllable from 1749.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In mechanics, force within a body that tends to deform it, the word was defined by Rankine in 1855, as distinct from strain.^(Etymonline) The psychological sense, mental or emotional strain, is a 20th-century development;^(Etymonline) the verb “to subject a person to stress” is from 1973 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and the figurative “to emphasise” from 1896.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1303 – hardship; compulsion.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – anguish, in ''Pearl''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-15th century – physical strain.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – emphasis.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1749 – stress on a syllable.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1855 – in mechanics, Rankine.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1896 – verb, to emphasise.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1973 – verb, to cause mental strain.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Mental or emotional [[strain]] or [[tension]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Importance or [[emphasis]] placed on something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The relative force with which a syllable is spoken; [[accent]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In physics, a force acting on a body that tends to deform it.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To place emphasis on.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To pronounce a syllable with stress.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To subject to mental or physical pressure.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' To become anxious: ''stop stressing''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[stressless]]

+ * [[stresslessness]]

+ * [[antistress]]

+ * [[microstress]]

+ * [[nonstress]]

+ * [[prestress]]

+ * [[stressful]]

+ * [[stress-timed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[strain]]

+ * [[strait]]

+ * [[strict]]

+ * [[stringent]]

+ * [[stringency]]

+ * [[distress]]

+ * [[constrain]]

+ * [[district]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}