What is the Latin word for distress?

The usual Latin words for “distress” are pignus, labōrō, angō; also sollicitus, animus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“distress” in Latin

pignuspledge, mortgage; hostage; wager, stake labōrōto toil, labor, work; to endeavor, strive; to suffer, be oppressed, be afflicted with angōto bind, draw, press together; to choke, throttle, strangle (replaced in Classical Latin by suffoco); to cause physical sollicitusthoroughly moved, agitated or disturbed; restless, unceasing; troubled, engaged, upset, disturbed, anxious, solicitous; animuslife, life force, soul, vitality (that life-giving aspect which animates a thing); conscience, intellect, mind, reason,

The English word distress itself goes back to Latin stringō, through distringō.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

distress

Calamity; Vid: CALAMITY or AFFLICTION. To be in distress, in miseria esse or versari; in summa infelicitate versari; iniquissima fortuna uti; in angustias adduci: in the greatest distress, in summas angustias adduci: to relieve anybody’s distress, aliquem a miseria vindicare; ex miseriis eripere: I do not know how to get out of my distress, nescio quomodo me expediam ex re: to be in distress about anybody or anything, laborare de aliquo or de aliqua re (also laborare absolutely, to be anxiously concerned about anybody or anything): to be in distress for anything, laborare ab aliqua re (e.g., for corn, water, etc.): my only distress is for you, nihil laboro, nisi ut tu salvus sis: in the distress of the country, difficili rei publicae tempore: general distress, publica clades or clades atque calamitas.

Pecuniary distress. [Vid: POVERTY.] To be in distress, in angustiis esse; angustius se habere; ad inopiam redactum esse: in great distress, in summa mendicitate esse; mendicitatem perpeti: not to let anybody suffer distress, victum alicui suppeditare; dare alicui, unde utatur: to relieve anybody’s distress, or anybody that is in distress, alicujus inopiae opitulari (as to poverty).

Danger, Vid: To be in distress, laborare: a signal of distress, *periculi signum: to give a signal of distress, *aliqua re periculi significationem facere.

Law term; [Vid: DISTRAINT].

The thing seized, pignus (general term, the pledge, in general).

distress v.

To make miserable [Vid: To AFFLICT.]

To Distrain, Vid:

To BE DISTRESSED, laborare (to be in distressing or difficult circumstances; especially as military technical term: to be distress for corn, laborare ab re frumentaria: ships are distressed, triremes laborant, Caes.: our men are distressed, nostri laborant): aliquid me valde conturbat; aliquid me sollicitat, or sollicitum habet, or anxium ac sollicitum habet; sollicitus sum et angor; anxio animo et sollicito sum; angi or animo angi; se afflictare or affctari: about anything, anxie ferre aliquid: to be distress (as to circumstances, etc.), [Vid: “To be in DISTRESS”]: I am much distressed about your health, incredibili sum sollicitudine de tua valetudine; invaletudo (al. valetudo) tua me valde conturbat: to make anybody quite distressed, non mediocri cura pellere alicujus animum: distressed circumstances, res familiaris affecta, perturbata: to be distressed for money, de pecunia, laborare; in summa diffcultate numaria esse.

Distressed, sollicitus; aegritudine affectus; aeger animo or animi. [Vid: MISERABLE.] Don’t be distressed, ne sis perturbatus.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for distress?: The usual Latin words for “distress” are pignus, labōrō, angō; also sollicitus, animus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.