Etymograph

English

anger

Anger comes from Middle English anger ‘grief, wrath’, from Old Norse angr ‘affliction’, from Proto-Germanic *angazaz, from PIE *h₂enǵʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-1‘narrow, tied together’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*angazaz2‘grief, sorrow’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350angr3‘affliction, sorrow’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anger3‘grief; wrath’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1660anger3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *angazaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old Norse angr
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English anger
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Simon Patrick, Mensa mystica: “It heals the Wounds that Sin hath made; and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *angazaz‘narrow, tied together’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*angazazWiktionary, Old Norse angr‘grief, sorrow’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350angrWiktionary, English anger‘affliction, sorrow’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500angerWiktionary, English anger‘grief; wrath’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1660angerWiktionary, English anger. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Simon Patrick, Mensa mystica: “It heals the Wounds that Sin hath made; and…”

The story

Also compare with English anguish, anxious, quinsy, and perhaps to awe and ugly. The word seems to have originally meant “to choke, squeeze”.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘to tighten’

anxiety, anxious, anguish, angst, 14 more

through Middle English anger ‘grief, pain, trouble, affliction, vexation,…’

angry, angrily, 2 more

Today it means

noun A strong and unpleasant feeling of displeasure, hostility, or antagonism, usually combined with an urge to yell, curse, damage or destroy things, or harm living beings, often stemming from perceived provocation, hurt, threat, insults, unfair or unjust treatment, or an undesired situation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “anger”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *angazaz, Old Norse angr. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- / anger

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