Etymograph

English

eustress

From eu- + stress, coined by contrast with distress, as if interpreting the latter as dys- + stress.

Formed from eu- + stress

Proto-Indo-European *h₁su- ‘good’

Proto-Hellenic *ehu- ‘good’

Ancient Greek ἐΰς ‘good, brave, noble’

Ancient Greek εὖ ‘well, good’

English eu-

Latin stringō ‘to draw tight together’

Latin distringō ‘to stretch out, apart’

Old French destrecier ‘to distress’

Middle English destresse

English stress

The story

From eu- + stress, coined by contrast with distress, as if interpreting the latter as dys- + stress.

Today it means

noun A healthful, stimulating kind and level of stress.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / eustress