Latin 'to choke,' from PIE 'tight' — five English emotions named for one sensation: 'anger,' 'anguish,' 'angina,' 'angst.'
A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
From Latin "anxietās" (distress, trouble of mind, solicitude), from "anxius" (uneasy, troubled, distressed), from "angere" (to choke, squeeze, cause distress), from PIE *h₂enǵʰ- (tight, constricted, painful). This root captures a visceral bodily sensation — the tightening of the throat and chest that accompanies dread. Its reflexes across Indo-European consistently describe physical constriction: Greek "ánkhō" (I strangle, I squeeze), whence "angina" (a choking pain in the chest); Latin "angustus" (narrow, confined, whence "anguish"); Old Norse "angr" (grief, sorrow, whence