anguish

Etymology 1

From Middle English angwissh, anguishe, angoise, from Anglo-Norman anguise, anguisse, from Old French angoisse, from Latin angustia (“narrowness, scarcity, difficulty, distress”), from angustus (“narrow, difficult”), from angere (“to press together, cause pain, distress”). See angst, the Germanic cognate, and anger.

noun

1. Extreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress.
   So, ye miserable people; you must go to God in anguishes, and make your prayer to him. 1549, Hugh Latimer, "The Third Sermon Preached before King Edward VI
   A terrible scream—a prolonged yell of horror and anguish—burst out of the silence of the moor. That frightful cry turned the blood to ice in my veins. 1889, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
   In midnight sleep of many a face of anguish, Of the look at first of the mortally wounded, (of that indescribable look,) Of the dead on their backs with arms extended wide, I dream, I dream, I dream. 1892, Walt Whitman, “Old War-Dreams”, in The Leaves of Grass

Etymology 2

From Middle English angwischen, anguis(s)en, from Old French angoissier, anguissier, from the noun (see Etymology 1).

verb

1. (intransitive) To suffer pain.
   c. 1900s, Kl. Knigge, Iceland Folk Song, traditional, Harmony: H. Ruland We’re leaving these shores for our time has come, the days of our youth must now end. The hearts bitter anguish, it burns for the home that we’ll never see again.
2. (transitive) To cause to suffer pain.