Aggression: In international law,… | etymologist.ai
aggression
/əˈɡreʃ.ən/·noun·1611·Established
Origin
Latin for 'stepping toward' with hostile intent — the aggressor is whoever takes the first step.
Definition
Hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another; the action of attacking without provocation; forceful and sometimes overly assertive pursuit of one's aims.
The Full Story
Latin17th centurywell-attested
From Latin 'aggressiōnem' (accusative of 'aggressiō,' an attack, an onset), from 'aggressus,' past participle of 'aggredī' (to approach, to attack, to undertake, to go toward), composed of 'ad-' (toward) + 'gradī' (to walk, to step, to go), from PIE *ghredh- (to walk, to go, to step). Aggression is literally 'stepping toward' — approaching someone with hostile intent, closingthedistance between oneself and a target. The PIEroot *ghredh- is relatively contained
Did you know?
In international law, 'aggression' has a precise definition adopted by the UnitedNationsGeneral Assembly in 1974: the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence of another State. The definition took decades to negotiate because of its political stakes — labeling an act as 'aggression' triggers legal consequences. The word's Latin sense of 'stepping toward' captures
step by step), 'gradient' (a slope of steps), 'graduate' (to take a degree, to advance by steps), 'degrade' (to step down, to lower in rank), 'retrograde' (stepping backward), 'congress' (stepping together), 'digress' (stepping away from the path), 'egress' (stepping out), 'ingress' (stepping in), 'progress' (stepping forward), 'regress' (stepping back), and 'transgress' (stepping across a boundary). The
are rarer, but some scholars connect Old Irish 'in-greinn' (to pursue) and Lithuanian 'gridyti' (to wade). The psychological sense of 'aggression' — innate hostile drive — was formalized by Freud and Adler in the early twentieth century, giving the ancient military metaphor of 'stepping toward' a new interior dimension. Key roots: ad- (Latin: "toward"), gradī (Latin: "to walk, to step"), *ghredh- (Proto-Indo-European: "to walk, to go").