Etymology

neurosis

neu·ro·sis
N1E1U1R1O1S1I1S1

Today it means: A mental disorder, less severe than psychosis, marked by anxiety or fear differing from normal measures by its intensity, and resulting from a failure to compromise or properly adjust during the developmental stages of life, between normal human instinctual impulses and the demands of human society. Full definition →

First used the 1700sEnglish neuro- ← Ancient Greek νευρο- (neuro-) ← Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)neh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*snéh₁wr̥
  3. Ancient Greekνεῦρον (neûron)
  4. Ancient Greekνευρο- (neuro-)
  5. Englishneuro-
  6. English todayneurosis

From neuro- + -sis.

First known use, by meaning

  • from the 1700s A mental disorder, less severe than psychosis, marked by anxiety or fear differing from normal measures by its intensity, and resulting from a failure to compromise or properly adjust during the developmental stages of life, between normal human instinctual impulses and the demands of human society.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.