English
anxiety
Anxiety comes from Latin ānxietās, from ānxius ‘anxious’, from angō ‘to distress’, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘to constrict’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-1‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anɣō1‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangō1‘to distress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxius1‘anxious’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxietās1‘anxiety’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907anxiety1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English anxiety
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “The inquest on keeper Davidson was duly held, and…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-Wiktionary, English anxiety‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anɣōWiktionary, English anxiety‘to constrict’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangōWiktionary, English anxiety‘to distress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxiusWiktionary, English anxiety‘anxious’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxietāsWiktionary, English anxiety‘anxiety’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907anxietyWiktionary, English anxiety. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “The inquest on keeper Davidson was duly held, and…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with anxiety, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘distressed, anxious’
through Latin ānxius ‘anxious, solicitous, distressed, troubled’
15 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun An unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension and obsession or concern about some uncertain event.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “anxiety”. 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- / anxiety