different between nervousness vs irritability

English

Etymology

From nervous +? -ness.

Noun

nervousness (countable and uncountable, plural nervousnesses)

1. The state or quality of being nervous.

Synonyms

• nervosity (much less common)

Translations

References

• nervousness in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• nervousness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

From Latin irritabilit?s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????t??b?l?ti/

Noun

irritability (countable and uncountable, plural irritabilities)

1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability

   irritability of temper

2. (physiology) A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways.
   • 1836, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Specimens of the Table Talk

     There is growth only in plants; but there is irritability, or, a better word, instinctivity, in insects.

   • 1800, Erasmus Darwin, Phytologia, Or the Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening

     We find a renitency in ourselves to ascribe life and irritability to the cold and motionless fibres of plants.

3. (medicine) A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli.

Synonyms

• (state of being irritable): petulance, fretfulness

Translations

References

• irritability in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• irritability in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.