angina [M16th] The Latin word angere, ‘to choke, squeeze, or strangle’, is the source of a number of English words. The most obvious is perhaps angina, which originally meant quinsy (an inflammation of the throat) and later referred to angina pectoris, ‘of the chest’, a heart condition characterized by a feeling of suffocation and severe pain. Nervous tension can produce feelings of tightness in the throat and chest, which explains why angere is indirectly the root of anguish [ME] which originally meant physical pain, and anxiety [LME].