Meaning

noun (psychiatry) a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness occurring in a variety of mental disorders, usually accompanied by compulsive behavior or attacks of panic

noun a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune

originBorrowed from Latin ānxietās, from ānxius (“anxious, solicitous, distressed, troubled”), from angō (“to distress, trouble”), akin to Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ánkhō, “to choke”). Equivalent to anxious + -ety. See anger; angst.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0