English
anxious
Anxious comes from Latin ānxius ‘afeared, anxious, troubled, uneasy’, from angō ‘to cause pain, choke’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘distressed, anxious’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-‘distressed, anxious’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anɣōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangō‘to cause pain, choke’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxius‘afeared, anxious, troubled, uneasy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667anxious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂enǵʰ-‘distressed, anxious’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*anɣōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEangō‘to cause pain, choke’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEānxius‘afeared, anxious, troubled, uneasy’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667anxious
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “The sweet of life, from which God hath bid…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- ‘distressed, anxious’
angry, anger, eng, angrily, angst, 12 more
through Latin angō ‘to cause pain, choke’
through Latin ānxius ‘afeared, anxious, troubled, uneasy’
Today it means
adj Nervous and worried.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂enǵʰ- / anxious