English
angry
Angry comes from Middle English angry, from anger ‘grief, distress’ + -y, from Old Norse angr ‘sorrow’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘to constrict’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-1‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂énǵʰos1‘narrowness’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*angazaz1‘worry’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350angr1‘sorrow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500anger1‘grief’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500angry1‘angry’
- Englishearliest quotation 1578angry1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English angry
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1578, The Cathechisme or Manner How to Instruc, London: […] Henrie Middleton: “Onely they that repent, and are verie ſorie that…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-Wiktionary, English angry‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂énǵʰosWiktionary, English angry‘narrowness’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*angazazWiktionary, English angry‘worry’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350angrWiktionary, English angry‘sorrow’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500angerWiktionary, English angry‘grief’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500angryWiktionary, English angry‘angry’
- Englishearliest quotation 1578angryWiktionary, English angry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1578, The Cathechisme or Manner How to Instruc, London: […] Henrie Middleton: “Onely they that repent, and are verie ſorie that…”
Formed from anger + -y
Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘narrow, tied together’
Proto-Germanic *angazaz ‘grief, sorrow’
Old Norse angr ‘affliction, sorrow’
Middle English anger ‘grief; wrath’
English anger
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘distressed, anxious’
anxiety, anxious, eng, anguish, angst, angina, 11 more
through Old Norse angr ‘sorrow, resentment, distress’
through Middle English anger ‘Grief, painfulness, or discomfort’
through Middle English angry
Today it means
adj Displaying or feeling anger.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “angry”. 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- / angry