Anger
Etymology
From Old Norse "angr," which meant “grief, sorrow, affliction,” not rage — and beneath it a root (shared with Latin "angere," “to constrict”) meaning to squeeze or choke. Anger’s ancestor was distress, the feeling of being painfully hemmed in; our modern hostility grew out of that older sense of anguish. Its cousins by root include "anguish," "anxiety," and "angina."
noun · /ANG-ger/
A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility in response to a wrong, threat, or frustration.
What it names
Use it for the mobilizing heat — the emotion that readies you to confront or push back against an obstacle or offense.
Example
A flash of anger went through him when he saw the parking spot he’d waited for get stolen.
Related idea
Against its own family: indignation is anger with a moral claim; resentment is anger that lingers and turns inward; rage and fury are anger past the point of control. Anger itself is the neutral base — a signal that a boundary or expectation has been violated, useful or destructive depending entirely on what you do with the heat.
See also