stress

See also: Stress and Streß

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distringō (“to stretch out”).

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɹɛs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Noun

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

1. (biology) A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
2. (biology) Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.
3. (countable, physics) 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. (countable, physics) Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
5. (uncountable) Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.

   Go easy on him, he's been under a lot of stress lately.

6. (uncountable, phonetics) The emphasis placed on a syllable of a word.

   Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second.

7. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on words in speaking.
8. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
9. Obsolete form of distress.
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
10. (Scotland, law) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.

Synonyms

• (phonetics): accent, emphasis
• (on words in speaking): emphasis
• (on a point): emphasis

Derived terms

• stress deafness
• stress-free, stressfree
• stressful
• stresswise

Translations

(physics) internal force across a boundary per area

• Arabic: إِجْهَاد m (ʔijhād)
• Belarusian: на́ціск m (nácisk)
• Catalan: tensió f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓力／压力 (zh) (yālì), 压力 (zh) (yālì)

• Danish: spænding (da) c
• Dutch: spanning (nl), zenuwen (nl)
• Finnish: jännitys (fi), rasitus (fi), kuormitus (fi)
• French: tension (fr) f, contrainte (fr) f
• Georgian: ძაბვა (ʒabva)
• German: Spannung (de) f
• Greek: (Biology) καταπόνηση (el) f (katapónisi)
• Hungarian: erő (hu), nyomás (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: tensione (it) f
• Japanese: 応力 (ja) (ōryoku)
• Korean: 변형력 (ko) (byeonhyeongnyeok)
• Latvian: spriegums m
• Persian: فشار (fa)
• Polish: naprężenie n
• Portuguese: tensão (pt) f
• Romanian: tensiune (ro) f, încordare (ro) f
• Russian: напряже́ние (ru) n (naprjažénije), нажи́м (ru) m (nažím), уси́лие (ru) n (usílije), давле́ние (ru) n (davlénije)
• Spanish: tensión (es) f
• Swedish: spänning (sv)
• Tagalog: sidhi
• Vietnamese: áp lực (vi) (壓力)

emotional pressure

• American Sign Language: X@Chest-PalmBack-X@Chest-PalmBack X@Sternum-PalmBack-X@Abdomen-PalmBack
• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Catalan: estrès m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓力／压力 (zh) (yālì), 压力 (zh) (yālì)

• Danish: stress (da) n or c
• Dutch: stress (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: streso, streĉo
• Finnish: rasitus (fi), stressi (fi), paine (fi)
• French: stress (fr) m
• Galician: estrés m
• German: Stress (de) m
• Greek: άγχος (el) n (ánchos), στρες (el) n (stres)
• Hebrew: מצוקה (he) f
• Icelandic: streita (is) f, stress (is) n (informal, slang)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: stress (it) m, pressione (it) f
• Japanese: ストレス (ja) (sutoresu)
• Korean: 압박 (ko) (apbak), 스트레스 (ko) (seuteureseu)
• Kurdish:
• Maori: tāmitanga, mate tāmitanga
• Norwegian: stress (no) n
• Persian: دلهره (fa)
• Polish: stres (pl) m
• Portuguese: estresse (pt)
• Romanian: stres (ro) n
• Russian: напряже́ние (ru) n (naprjažénije), стресс (ru) m (strɛss), стресс (ru) m (stress)
• Serbo-Croatian: stres (sh) m, pritisak (sh) m
• Spanish: estrés (es) m
• Thai: ความเครียด (th) (kwaam kríat)
• Turkish: stres (tr), sıkıntı (tr)
• Ukrainian: стрес m (stres)
• Vietnamese: áp lực (vi) (壓力), căng thẳng (vi)

on a syllable — see accent

when speaking

• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Belarusian: на́ціск m (nácisk)
• Catalan: accent (ca) m
• Finnish: painotus (fi)
• French: accent (fr) m
• German: Betonung (de) f
• Greek: τονισμός (el) m (tonismós)
• Hungarian: hangsúly (hu), nyomaték (hu)
• Icelandic: áhersla f
• Irish: béim ghutha f, aiceann m
• Italian: accento (it) m
• Japanese: 重き (omoki)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 강세 (gangse)
• Latvian: uzsvars m, akcents m
• Polish: nacisk (pl) m, akcent (pl) m
• Portuguese: ênfase (pt) f
• Russian: акце́нт (ru) m (akcént), ударе́ние (ru) n (udarénije)
• Serbo-Croatian: akcent (sh) m, naglasak (sh) m
• Spanish: acento (es) m, énfasis (es) m
• Swedish: betoning (sv) c
• Tagalog: lundo
• Turkish: vurgu (tr), tonlama (tr)
• Vietnamese: trọng âm (vi) (重音)

on a point in an argument

• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Belarusian: на́ціск m (nácisk)
• Catalan: èmfasi m
• Finnish: painotus (fi)
• French: emphase (fr) f
• German: Betonung (de) f
• Greek: έμφαση (el) f (émfasi), τονισμός (el) m (tonismós)
• Icelandic: áhersla f
• Irish: béim (ga) f
• Italian: enfasi (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 重き (omoki), 力説 (rikisetsu)
• Korean: 강조 (ko) (gangjo)
• Latvian: akcents m, uzsvars m
• Polish: nacisk (pl) m, emfaza (pl) f
• Portuguese: ênfase (pt) f
• Russian: акце́нт (ru) m (akcént), ударе́ние (ru) n (udarénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: cudrom m
• Serbo-Croatian: naglasak (sh) m
• Spanish: énfasis (es) m
• Turkish: vurgu (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} stress (nl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

stress (third-person singular simple present stresses, present participle stressing, simple past and past participle stressed)

1. To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
2. To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
3. (informal) To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
4. To emphasise (a syllable of a word).

   “Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second.

5. To emphasise (words in speaking).
6. To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion.

   I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence.

Synonyms

• (phonetics): emphasise/emphasize
• (on words in speaking): emphasise/emphasize
• (on a point): emphasise/emphasize, underline

Derived terms

• stressed
• stress out

Translations

to apply force to, causing strain

• Finnish: jännittää (fi)
• German: beanspruchen (de)
• Korean: 변형력을 주다 (byeonyeongryugul jooda)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: tensionar (pt)
• Spanish: tensionar (es), tensar (es)
• Vietnamese: gây áp lực

to apply emotional pressure to

• Catalan: estressar (ca)
• Danish: stresse
• Finnish: stressata (fi)
• French: stresser (fr)
• German: stressen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 압박을 주다 (apbagul jooda)
• Portuguese: estressar
• Spanish: estresar (es)
• Vietnamese: gây căng thẳng

to emphasise (a syllable)

• Armenian: շեշտել (hy) (šeštel)
• Dutch: beklemtonen (nl)
• Esperanto: akcenti
• Finnish: painottaa (fi)
• French: emphaser
• German: betonen (de)
• Greek: τονίζω (el) (tonízo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: acentizar (io)
• Korean: 강세를 넣다 (gangserul nutta)
• Polish: akcentować (pl)
• Portuguese: acentuar (pt)
• Spanish: acentuar (es)
• Turkish: vurgulamak (tr)

to emphasise (words in speaking)

• Armenian: շեշտել (hy) (šeštel)
• Esperanto: akcenti
• Estonian: rõhutama
• Finnish: painottaa (fi)
• German: betonen (de)
• Greek: τονίζω (el) (tonízo)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Icelandic: leggja áherslu á (governs accusative case)
• Korean: 강세를 넣다 (gangserul nutta)
• Portuguese: enfatizar (pt), acentuar (pt)
• Spanish: enfatizar (es)
• Turkish: vurgulamak (tr), altını çizmek

to emphasise (a point)

• Armenian: շեշտել (hy) (šeštel)
• Catalan: emfasitzar (ca)
• Czech: zdůraznit
• Danish: fremhæve
• Esperanto: akcenti
• Finnish: painottaa (fi)
• French: souligner (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: betonen (de)
• Greek: τονίζω (el) (tonízo)
• Icelandic: leggja áherslu á (governs accusative case)
• Korean: 강조하다 (ko) (gangjohada)
• Portuguese: enfatizar (pt)
• Spanish: enfatizar (es), recalcar (es)
• Turkish: vurgulamak (tr), altını çizmek

Related terms

• strain
• strait
• strict
• stringent
• stringency

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Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Noun

stress c or n (singular definite stressen or stresset, not used in plural)

1. stress

Derived terms

• stresse (verb)
• stresset (adjective)

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛs

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. stress

Derived terms

• stressen (“to be stressed”)
• stresskip
• stresskonijn

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stʁɛs/

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. stress (emotional pressure)

Derived terms

• stresser

Further reading

• “stress”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /strɛsː/
• Rhymes: -ɛsː

Noun

stress n (genitive singular stress, no plural)

1. stress

Declension

declension of stress

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	stress	stressið
accusative	stress	stressið
dative	stressi	stressinu
genitive	stress	stressins

Related terms

• stressa
• stressaður

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Indonesian

Noun

stress (first-person possessive stressku, second-person possessive stressmu, third-person possessive stressnya)

1. Nonstandard spelling of stres.

Adjective

stress

1. Nonstandard spelling of stres.

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. stress

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Verb

stress

1. (deprecated template usage) imperative of stresse

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Portuguese

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of estresse

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɾes/ [ˈst̪ɾes]

Noun

stress m (plural stresses)

1. stress

Synonyms

• estrés

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Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Noun

stress c

1. stress

Declension

Declension of stress
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	stress	stressen	—	—
Genitive	stresss	stressens	—	—