- stress (n.)
- c.1300, "hardship, adversity, force, pressure," in part a shortening of M.Fr. destresse (see distress), in part from O.Fr. estrece "narrowness, oppression," from V.L. *strictia, from L. strictus "compressed," pp. of stringere "draw tight" (see strain (v.)). The purely psychological sense is attested from 1942.
- stress (v.)
- c.1300, "to subject (someone) to force or compulsion," from the source of stress (n.). The fig. meaning "put emphasis on" is first recorded 1896, from notion of laying pressure on something by relying on it.