entry
anguish
/ˈæŋ.ɡwɪʃ/Extreme physical or mental suffering
From Latin angust- / angere (tight).
from Middle English angwissh, anguishe, angoise
from Old French anguisse, angoisse "choking sensation, distress, anxiety, rage" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Latin angustia (plural angustiae ) "tightness, straitness, narrowness;" figuratively "distress, difficulty,"
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Middle English angwissh, anguishe, angoise
from Old French anguisse, angoisse "choking sensation, distress, anxiety, rage" (12c.)
+1 more sourcefrom Latin angustia (plural angustiae ) "tightness, straitness, narrowness;" figuratively "distress, difficulty,"
+1 more sourceA narrow alley, a tightened throat, a chest that feels as if it has been laced shut with iron cord — that is the physical picture hiding inside this word. Medieval French speakers used angoisse for a choking, pinched-up feeling, and Latin angustia meant literal narrowness before it became the perfect metaphor for pressure and distress. The same little Latin family also gave English anxiety, which feels like anguish in a more jittery key: both are what happens when life seems to close in. Even the old idea of a strait or squeeze survives here, like a door that has been forced almost shut. So when someone is in anguish, they are not just sad; they are linguistically being pressed into a tiny, airless space.
The Story
A narrow alley, a tightened throat, a chest that feels as if it has been laced shut with iron cord — that is the physical picture hiding inside this word. Medieval French speakers used angoisse for a choking, pinched-up feeling, and Latin angustia meant literal narrowness before it became the perfect metaphor for pressure and distress. The same little Latin family also gave English anxiety, which feels like anguish in a more jittery key: both are what happens when life seems to close in. Even the old idea of a strait or squeeze survives here, like a door that has been forced almost shut. So when someone is in anguish, they are not just sad; they are linguistically being pressed into a tiny, airless space.
Kin & Kindred
From 'angust- / angere'·tight, narrow; to constrict, distress
Derived Terms
English words from this root