Other forms: annoyances
Annoyance is mild anger, or the thing that causes it. Cause annoyance, to my annoyance, a minor annoyance.
It is deliberately small — annoyance is what irritation amounts to before it becomes anger, and calling something an annoyance is a way of saying it does not really matter. In law, a private nuisance is what an annoyance becomes when it is actionable. Note annoy; and that the word comes from a Latin phrase meaning it is hateful to me.
1nounannoyanceMild anger.
“To his annoyance, the bus left just as he reached the stop.”
2nouncausesThe thing that causes it.
“The neighbour's barking dog is a constant annoyance.”
annoyance is a mild irritation.
Old French anoiance comes from anuier, to annoy, from a Latin phrase in odio, meaning it is hateful to me. Ennui and odious come from the same phrase.
Middle English
anoyaunce
English, today
annoyance
Built from
From Middle English anoyaunce. Middle English anoyaunce (rare form of noyaunce), from Old French anuiance, anoiance, from the verb anuier (“to cause problems”), equivalent to annoy + ance. Compare French ennui.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA