Standard Lemma guide

stressor

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S T R EH1 S ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An environmental condition or influence that stresses (i.e. causes stress for) an organism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, human-sciences, natural-sciences, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any agent that causes stress to an organism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: agent

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh1 Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Proto-Indo-European *streyg- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *strinégti Proto-Italic *stringō Proto-Indo-European *strengh- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *stréngheti Proto-Italic *strengō Latin stringō Latin distringōder. Old French destrecierbor. Middle English destresse English stress English -or English stressor From stress + -or.