Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AG'O-NY, n. [Gr. αγων, a contest with bodily exertion; a word used to denote the athletic games in Greece; whence αγωνια, anguish, solicitude; from αγω, L. ago. In Ir. agh, is a battle, conflict; Gr. αγωνιζω, to strive. See Act.]

1. In strictness, pain so extreme as to cause writhing or contortions of the body, similar to those made in the athletic contests in Greece. Hence,
2. Extreme pain of body or mind; anguish; appropriately, the pangs of death, and the sufferings of our Savior in the garden of Gethsemane. – Luke xxii.
3. Violent contest or striving. – More.