anxious English · revision 7756

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1616|origins=la anxius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæŋkʃəs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæŋkʃəs/, /ˈeɪŋkʃəs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|anxius|t=uneasy, troubled in mind]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|ango|alt=angere|t=to choke, squeeze; to torment]] (see [[anger]], [[anguish]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE [[ine-pro|*h₂enǵʰ-|alt=*angh-|t=tight, painfully constricted]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Barnhart notes that French anxieux existed from 1375 but that Latin is the more probable source.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Troubled or uneasy about an uncertain event: about 1616 in MWU, 1623 in Barnhart and the OED.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The same image is in Serbo-Croatian tjeskoba, anxiety, literally tightness.^(Etymonline) Causing trouble or worry, as in ''an anxious time'', is from 1667.^(OED 1989) The meaning earnestly desirous, as in ''anxious to please'', is from 1742.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The ''anxious bench'' or seat, at American revival meetings, is from 1839.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1616 – troubled.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1623 – in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1667 – causing anxiety.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1742 – eager.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1839 – the anxious bench.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[worried|alt=Worried]] and uneasy about an uncertain outcome.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Showing or causing [[anxiety]]: ''an anxious night''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Eagerly or earnestly wanting: ''anxious for promotion''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anxiously]]

+ * [[anxiousness]]

+ * [[unanxious]]

+ * [[overanxious]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[anxiety]]

+ * [[anger]]

+ * [[anguish]]

+ * [[angst]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD notes that anxious has long been used to mean eager, but that many prefer to keep it for cases where the subject is worried or uneasy; 52 percent of its Usage Panel rejected ''anxious to see the new show''.^(AHD) RHWU calls the sense eager fully standard, dating it to the mid-18th century.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}