Emily Dickinson Lexicon

STRESS, n. [W. trais, force, violence, oppression; treissaw, to force or drive; Ir. treise, force; Arm. treçzen, a twist; troseza, trouezal, to truss, Fr. trousser. Hence distress, trestle, &c.]

1. Force; urgency; pressure; importance; that which bears with most weight; as, the stress of a legal question. Consider how much stress is laid on the exercise of charity in the New Testament. This, on which the great stress of the business depends. – Locke.
2. Force or violence; as, stress of weather.
3. Force; violence; strain. Though the faculties of the mind are improved by exercise, yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their strength. – Locke.