'anguish' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'angoisse', ultimately from Latin 'angustia'/'angor', from the root 'angere' meaning 'to press tight, to choke'.

'angoisse' passed into Middle English as forms like 'anguisshe' and eventually became the modern English word 'anguish'.

Initially, it referred to 'narrowness/pressing tight' and by extension 'distress', which evolved into the modern sense of 'severe mental or physical pain'.