Experiences of extreme physical or emotional pain and suffering; intense struggles or distress.
From Greek 'agonia,' meaning struggle or contest (especially in athletics), derived from 'agon' (struggle/conflict). The word entered English through Latin and Old French. Over time, the meaning shifted from athletic struggle to intense suffering, physical and mental.
The ancient Greeks used 'agonia' for athletic competition—a wrestling match was an agony! Over centuries, the word evolved to mean the terrible pain of a cross or the emotional 'death struggle' of deciding something. Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane experienced 'agony' in this exact evolved sense.
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