What is the origin of the word arduous?

[astro]

What is the origin of the word arduous?

My dictionaries don’t say other than it’s of British derivation.

[Captain_Amazing]

It comes from the Latin “arduus”, meaning difficult.

[RealityChuck]

From dictionary.com:

ar·du·ous Pronunciation Key (ärj-s)
adj.

1. Demanding great effort or labor; difficult: “the arduous work of preparing a Dictionary of the English Language” (Thomas Macaulay).
2. Testing severely the powers of endurance; strenuous: a long, arduous, and exhausting war.
3. Hard to traverse, climb, or surmount. See Synonyms at burdensome. See Synonyms at hard.

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[From Latin arduus, high, steep.]

[tomndebb]

Really? The Merriam-Webster on-line is pretty straightforward:

Etymology: Latin arduus high, steep, difficult; akin to Old Irish ard high

[astro]

*Originally posted by tomndebb *
**Really? The Merriam-Webster on-line is pretty straightforward: **

No, all I had was this which do not cite origin -

ar-du-ous (är’jue uhs; esp. Brit. är’dyue-) adj.
1. requiring great exertion; laborious:
arduous tasks.
2. using much energy; strenuous: an arduous
effort.
3. hard to climb; steep: an arduous path.
4. full of hardships; severe: an arduous
winter.
Derived words
–ar’du-ous-ly, adv.
–ar’du-ous-ness, n.

But thanks for the link! It showed me the “ard” in the word “hard” had nothing to do with the “ard” in arduous.

[Hari_Seldon]

FWIW, the French word for slate is ardoise.

[samclem]

Taken from my Chambers

"1538(in English), borrowed from Latin arduus steep, difficult. Latin arduus is cognate with Old Irish ard high, Welsh hardd handsome. English arduous may have been influenced in its borrowing from Latin by the Old French ardu steep, difficult(1365).

[taklon]

I thought it came from the illiterate - 'Ard as … as in "Geez that was as 'ard as "

[dantheman]

I’m pretty sure it was originated by Arden Ranger.