uneasiness
Meaning
a feeling of anxiety or discomfort.
the state of being uncomfortable or awkward.
Structure
Usage
a sense of uneasiness filled the room before the announcement.
he tried to hide his uneasiness about the plan with a confident smile.
her uneasiness grew as the storm clouds gathered on the horizon.
Etymology
The word 'uneasiness' is a layered English construction. Its core, 'easy', entered English via Old French 'aisie', which itself derived from the Vulgar Latin 'adjacens', meaning "lying nearby, at hand," and ultimately from the Latin verb 'jacere', "to lie." The Old English prefix 'un-' was attached to negate this state, creating 'uneasy' to mean "not comfortable or at rest." Finally, the native Old English suffix '-ness', used to form abstract nouns indicating a state or condition, was appended. Thus, the literal "state of not being at ease" evolved into the modern abstract meaning of a feeling of anxiety or discomfort.
Analysis
un- (old english, a prefix meaning "not"); easy (middle english, from old french 'aisie', meaning "comfortable, at ease"); -ness (old english, a noun-forming suffix denoting a state or quality).