anxiety (English)

Where does "anxiety" come from?

The English noun 'anxiety' enters the language as a borrowing from Latin 'anxietās'[1], which was formed from the Latin adjective 'ānxius' meaning anxious, solicitous, distressed, or troubled combined with the suffix '-tās'[2]. This Latin adjective ultimately traces back to the verb 'angō', meaning to distress or trouble[1]. Deeper historical roots connect this family through Proto-Italic to the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₂enǵʰ-'[5], which is also related to Ancient Greek 'ἄγχω' meaning to choke.

Open questions

The exact reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European root is debated, as Hittite evidence suggests an earlier form of '*h₂emǵʰ-' rather than '*h₂enǵʰ-', and a genetic relation to Proto-Uralic remains uncertain. [3]

Full etymology tree

anxiety (English), 'An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event.'
- borrowed anxietas (Latin), 'anxiety'
  - derived anxius (Latin), 'afeared, anxious, troubled, uneasy'
    - derived ango (Latin), 'to bind, draw, press together'
      - inherited *anɣō (Proto-Italic)
        inherited *h₂enǵʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to constrict, tighten, compress'

Ancestors

*h₂enǵʰ- (Proto-Indo-European)
anxietas (Latin)

Cognates and doublets

ἄγχω (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

antianxiety (English)
antianxiety (English)
anxietist (English)
anxietize (English)
anxietous (English)
anxiety disorder (English)
anxiety neurosis (English)
approach anxiety (English)
castration anxiety (English)
climate anxiety (English)
eco-anxiety (English)
ecoanxiety (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris