Worry
Old English wyrgan ‘strangle’, of West Germanic origin. In Middle English the original sense of the verb gave rise to the meaning ‘seize by the throat and tear’, later figuratively ‘harass’, whence ‘cause anxiety to’ (early 19th century, the date also of the noun).
wiktionary
From Middle English worien, werien, wirien, wirwen, wyryȝen(“to choke, strangle”), from Old English wyrġan, from Proto-Germanic *wurgijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ-(“bind, squeeze”). Cognate with Dutch worgen, wurgen, German würgen. Compare Latin urgere(“to press, push”), Sanskrit वृहति(vṛhati, “to tear out, pluck”), Lithuanian ver̃žti(“to string; squeeze”), Russian (poetic) отверза́ть(otverzátʹ, “to open”, literally “to untie”). Related to wring.
etymonline
worry (v.)
c. 1300, wirien, "to slay, kill or injure by biting and shaking the throat" (as a dog or wolf does), from Old English wyrgan "to strangle," from Proto-Germanic *wurgjan (source also of Middle Dutch worghen, Dutch worgen, Old High German wurgen, German würgen "to strangle," Old Norse virgill "rope"), from *wergh-, from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend."
The "strangle" sense generally was obsolete in English after c. 1600; the figurative meaning "to annoy, bother, vex" is by c. 1400. Meaning "to cause mental distress or trouble" is attested from 1822; intransitive sense of "to feel anxiety or mental trouble" is attested by 1860. Related: Worried; worrier; worrying.
worry (n.)
"anxiety arising from cares and troubles," 1804, from worry (v.).
