agony

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Very severe pain.

   When the weight fell on her foot, she cried out in agony.

2. 2
   noun

   Extreme mental suffering or distress.

   He waited in agony for the doctor to call with the test results.

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Simplified etymology

Agony entered English through late Latin from Greek agōnia, derived from agōn ‘contest’. In Greek, the sense developed from a struggle for victory in games to struggle generally and then mental torment; English initially used the word for mental anguish and extended it to physical suffering in the early 15th century.

14th century, via Old French and Latin from Ancient Greek ἀγωνία (agōnía, “emulation, competition, struggle”), from ἀγών (agṓn, “contest”). Specifically of the struggle that precedes death (mortal agony) from the 1540s. By surface analysis, agon + -y. The sense of "extreme pain" from c. 1600.

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