struggle English · revision 4200

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 1386}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|struglen]], strogelen,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) a word of obscure origin,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) probably a frequentative with the suffix -le, as in [[trample]] and [[wrestle]], but the first element is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Skeat suggested Old Norse strúgr “ill will”,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and others Dutch struikelen and German straucheln “to stumble”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) though Barnhart thinks the meaning makes this unlikely.^(Barnhart 1988) The Middle English Compendium compares stroublen “to disturb”, a clipping of distroublen, like stroy for [[destroy]].^(Etymonline) Hoad and the Concise Oxford think it probably symbolic or imitative.^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To wrestle, grapple, contend physically”: about 1386 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1395 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To argue, debate” is attested by the early 15th century,^(Etymonline) and the figurative “to contend resolutely, as with a stronger adversary” from about 1412.^(OED 1989) The sense widened gradually to “to put forth effort, strive strenuously”,^(Etymonline) 1597 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The noun is from 1692, in John Locke's writings,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the 1690s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) though Merriam-Webster has 1560.^(MW Collegiate) ''The struggle for existence'', a metaphor in biology, is from before 1827.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – to grapple.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – to argue.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1597 – to strive against difficulties.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1692 – noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1827 – ''struggle for existence''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To exert one's strength, as against a physical force: ''struggled to free himself''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make a great effort; to [[strive]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To contend or compete.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To progress with difficulty: ''struggled up the hill''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of struggling; a strenuous effort.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A fight, contest or [[conflict]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[struggler]]

+ * [[strugglingly]]

+ * [[unstruggling]]

+ * [[class struggle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wrestle]]

+ * [[trample]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}