stress
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stress
- /ˈstɹɛs/ UK
- /ˈʃt͡ʃɹɛs/ UK
- /stɹɛs/ US
Rhymes with -ɛs
Where it comes from
From a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”). Displaced native Old English swēġ (“accent, stress”), though strictly in the grammatical sense.
In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.
noun stresses
- A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
- Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.
- The internal distribution of force across a small boundary per unit area of that boundary (pressure) within a body. It causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ or τ.
- Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
- Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal. Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately.
- A suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound, word or word group by means of of loudness, duration or pitch; phonological prominence. lexical stress
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The suprasegmental feature of a language having additional attention raised to a sound by means of loudness and/or duration; phonological prominence phonetically achieved by means of dynamics as distinct from pitch.
The shift from pitch to stress appears to happen before the other obliques begin merging in the Proto-Italic, Proto-Germanic, Primitive Irish, and Middle Indo-Aryan. But further investigation into the timeline of sound changes […] shows that, at least in Germanic, the oblique and core noun stems sou
Similar: stress accent · Opposite: pitch, pitch accent
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Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
Similar: emphasis
- Obsolete form of distress With this sad Hersal of his heavy stress, The warlike Damzel was empassion's sore, And said; Sir Knight, your Cause is nothing less Than is your Sorrow , certes if not more
- distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.
verb stresses · stressing · stressed
- To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
- To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
- To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
- To emphasise (a syllable of a word). “Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second.
- To emphasise (words in speaking).
- To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion. I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: tenseness, straining, tension, try, set off, emphasize, bring out, emphasis, accentuation, accentuate, punctuate, strain, accent, focus, stressor, stressful
Translations
Every language
noun (physics) internal force across a boundary per area
| 한국어 | 변형력 byeonhyeongnyeok, 압력 amnyeok |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 応力 ōryoku |
| 中文 | 壓力 /压力 yālì |
| हिन्दी | खिंचाव khiñcāv, तान tān |
| Português | tensão |
| Français | tension, contrainte |
| Deutsch | Spannung |
| Italiano | tensione |
| Ελληνικά | καταπόνηση katapónisi |
| Română | tensiune, încordare |
| Русский | напряже́ние naprjažénije, нажи́м nažím, уси́лие usílije, давле́ние davlénije |
| Tiếng Việt | áp lực |
| العربية | إِجْهَاد ʔijhād |
noun emotional pressure
| Español | estrés, stress |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 스트레스 seuteureseu, 압박 apbak |
| 日本語 | ストレス sutoresu |
| 中文 | 壓力 /压力 yālì |
| हिन्दी | तनाव tanāv |
| Kiswahili | msongo wa mawazo |
| Português | estresse, stress |
| Français | stress |
| Deutsch | Stress |
| Italiano | stress, pressione |
| Ελληνικά | άγχος ánchos, στρες stres |
| Română | stres |
| Русский | стресс strɛss, стресс stress, напряже́ние naprjažénije, давле́ние davlénije |
| Tiếng Việt | áp lực, căng thẳng, xì-trét |
| العربية | إِجْهَاد ʔijhād |
| עברית | מְצוּקָה m'tsuká |
noun on a point in an argument
| 한국어 | 강조 gangjo |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 重き omoki, 力説 rikisetsu |
| हिन्दी | बल bal |
| Português | ênfase |
| Français | emphase |
| Deutsch | Betonung |
| Italiano | enfasi |
| Ελληνικά | έμφαση émfasi, τονισμός tonismós |
| Русский | акце́нт akcént, ударе́ние udarénije |
verb to emphasise (a syllable)
| Español | acentuar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 강세를 넣다 gangsereul neota |
| Português | acentuar |
| Français | emphaser |
| Deutsch | betonen |
| Italiano | accentuare |
| Ελληνικά | τονίζω tonízo |
| Tiếng Việt | nhấn mạnh |
verb to emphasise (a point)
| Español | enfatizar, recalcar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 강조하다 gangjohada |
| Português | enfatizar |
| Français | souligner |
| Deutsch | betonen |
| Italiano | enfatizzare, insistere, sottolineare |
| Ελληνικά | τονίζω tonízo |
| Tiếng Việt | nhấn mạnh |
verb to apply force to, causing strain
| Español | tensionar, tensar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 변형력을 주다 byeonhyeongnyeogeul juda |
| हिन्दी | बल bal |
| Português | tensionar |
| Deutsch | beanspruchen |
| Italiano | stressare |
| Tiếng Việt | gây áp lực |
Talk about this word "stress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/stress. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. stress. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/stress "stress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/stress.Cite this
@misc{stress_2026,
title = {stress},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/stress},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
