[ad. L. anxietāt-em, n. of quality f. anxi-us: see ANXIOUS, and -TY.]
1. The quality or state of being anxious; uneasiness or trouble of mind about some uncertain event; solicitude, concern.
c. 1525. More, De quat. Noviss., Wks. 1557, 91. There dyed he without grudge, without anxietie.
a. 1631. Donne, Select. (1840), 25. Temporal prosperity comes always accompanied with much anxiety.
1714. Spect., No. 615, ¶ 1. It is the Business of Religion and Philosophy to free us from all unnecessary Anxieties.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 200. The United Provinces saw with anxiety the progress of his arms.
2. Strained or solicitous desire (for or to effect some purpose).
1769. Junius Lett., i. 3. Anxiety … for the general welfare.
1833. I. Taylor, Fanat., viii. 304. Every man’s anxiety to obtain for himself the inestimable pearl of genuine knowledge.
3. Path. ‘A condition of agitation and depression, with a sensation of tightness and distress in the præcordial region.’ Syd. Soc. Lex., 1880.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 368. The paine and anxiety of the ventricle.
1732. Arbuthnot, Rules of Diet, 303. The Blood … pressing upon the heart creates great Anxieties.
1844. T. Graham, Dom. Med., 277. [Angina pectoris] is an acute constrictive pain … attended with anxiety, difficulty of breathing, and a sense of suffocation.
