Worrywort
/ˈwʌr.i.wɜːrt/noun
A person who habitually worries; a variant of “worrywart.”
Did you know?The word is a playful alteration of “worrywart,” replacing “wart” with “wort,” an old English word for a plant or herb; it is wordplay rather than evidence of a magical worry-herb.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*werg-
“To do or work; a proposed ancient root behind the Germanic source of “worry” and several words connected with action or effort.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*wurgjaną
“To strangle or seize by the throat; the root developed into the sense of troubling or harassing.”
Old English
Old English
wyrgan
“To strangle, choke, or kill by biting; the form reflects the older, physical sense.”
16th Century
English
worry
“To harass, distress, or torment; later, to be troubled by anxious thoughts.”
19th Century
American English
worrywart
“A person habitually anxious or apprehensive; “wart” was used in a playful personal-name compound.”
19th–20th Century
English
worrywort
“A humorous variant of “worrywart,” recasting the ending as “wort,” the old word for a plant or herb.”