ache
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- ake (rare)
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English aken (verb), and ache (noun), from Old English acan (verb) (from Proto-West Germanic *akan, from Proto-Germanic *akaną (“to be bad, be evil”)) and æċe (noun) (from Proto-West Germanic *aki, from Proto-Germanic *akiz), both from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eg- (“sin, crime”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eeke, ääke (“to ache, fester”), Low German aken, achen, äken (“to hurt, ache”), German Low German Eek (“inflammation”), North Frisian akelig, æklig (“terrible, miserable, sharp, intense”), West Frisian aaklik (“nasty, horrible, dismal, dreary”), Dutch akelig (“nasty, horrible”).
The verb was originally strong, conjugating for tense like take (e.g. I ake, I oke, I have aken), but gradually became weak during Middle English; the noun was originally pronounced as /eɪt͡ʃ/ as spelled (compare breach, from break). Historically the verb was spelled ake, and the noun ache (even after the form /eɪk/ started to become common for the noun; compare again break which is now also a noun). The verb came to be spelled like the noun when lexicographer Samuel Johnson mistakenly assumed that it derived from Ancient Greek ἄχος (ákhos, “pain”) due to the similarity in form and meaning of the two words.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ache (third-person singular simple present aches, present participle aching, simple past ached or (obsolete) oke, past participle ached or (obsolete) aken)
- (intransitive, stative) To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
- My feet were aching for days after the marathon.
- Every muscle in his body ached.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 13:
- By'r lakin, I can goe no further, Sir, / My old bones akes:[sic] here's a maze trod indeede / Through fourth rights, & Meanders: / by your patience, I needes muſt reſt me.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.
- (transitive, literary, rare) To cause someone or something to suffer pain.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Noun edit
ache (plural aches)
- Continued dull pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain.
- You may suffer a minor ache in your side.
- The aches and pains died down after taking an analgesic.
- c. 1610, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I, Scene II:
- Fill all thy bones with aches.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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See also edit
References edit
- Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition.
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English ache, from Old French ache, from Latin apium (“celery”). Reinforced by modern French ache.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ache (plural aches)
- (obsolete or historical) Parsley.
Derived terms edit
- lovage (by folk etymology)
- smallage
Etymology 3 edit
Representing the pronunciation of the letter H.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ache (plural aches)
- Rare spelling of aitch.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Latin apia, plural of apium (“celery”).
Noun edit
ache f (plural aches)
- celery (plant)
Etymology 2 edit
Inherited from Middle French ache, from Old French ache, from Vulgar Latin *acca, probably an extension of earlier ha, from an unindentified source. Compare Italian acca.
Noun edit
ache m (plural aches)
- aitch, The name of the Latin-script letter H.
Descendants edit
Further reading edit
- “ache”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old English eċe, ace, æċe, from Proto-West Germanic *aki, from Proto-Germanic *akiz. Some forms are remodelled on aken.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ache (plural aches)
- Aching; long-lasting hurting or injury.
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- “āche, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-12.
Etymology 2 edit
From Old French ache, from Latin apium.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ache (plural aches)
- A plant of the genus Apium, especially celery.
Descendants edit
- English: ache
References edit
- “āche, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-12.
Norman edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun edit
ache f (uncountable)
- (Jersey) wild celery
- Synonym: céléri sauvage
Portuguese edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ache
- inflection of achar: