English Explanatory Dictionary

stress

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
  2. Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.
  3. 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.
  4. Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
  5. Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
  9. Obsolete form of distress.
  10. distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.
verb
  1. To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
  2. To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
  3. To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
  4. To emphasise (a syllable of a word).
  5. To emphasise (words in speaking).
  6. To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion.

Pronunciation

/ˈstɹɛs/ /ˈʃt͡ʃɹɛs/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Xavier hillier-stress.wav /stɹɛs/ en-us-stress.ogg

Word forms

stress stresses stressing stressed

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *strengʰ-der. Proto-Indo-European *streyg-der. Latin stringō Latin distringōder. Old French destrecierbor. Middle English destresse English stress 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”). 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.

Synonyms

accent emphasis stress accent emphasise emphasize underline

Antonyms

pitch pitch accent

Related words

strain strait strict stringent stringency

Derived words

antistress anti-stress anxiostressive backstress combat stress reaction complex post-traumatic stress disorder critical incident stress management cryostress eigenstress electrostress engineering stress eu-stress eustress flow stress genostress genotoxic stress geostress hyperstress hypostress infostress internal stress interstress isostress macrostress microstress mitostress nitrosative stress nonstress nonstress test osmostress oxidative stress paleostress Peierls stress photostress porcine stress syndrome poststress post traumatic stress disorder posttraumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress syndrome premenstrual stress primary stress psychostress residual stress secondary stress shear stress storm and stress stressaholic stress ball stressbuster stressbusting stress cardiomyopathy stress deafness stress eating stress fracture stress-free stressfree stressful stress function stresshead

Translations

Armenian: շեշտել Catalan: emfasitzar Czech: zdůraznit Danish: fremhæve Esperanto: akcenti Finnish: painottaa French: souligner German: betonen Greek: τονίζω Italian: enfatizzare Italian: insistere Italian: sottolineare Korean: 강조하다 Polish: akcentować Polish: zaakcentować Polish: podkreślać Polish: podkreślić Portuguese: enfatizar Spanish: enfatizar Spanish: recalcar Turkish: vurgulamak Turkish: altını çizmek Vietnamese: nhấn mạnh
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