ache
verbEtymology
From Middle English aken (verb), and ache (noun), from Old English acan (verb) (from Proto-West Germanic *akan, from Proto-Germanic *akaną (“to ache”)) and æċe (noun) (from Proto-West Germanic *aki, from Proto-Germanic *akiz). 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.
Definitions
To suffer pain
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.
- 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.
To cause someone or something to suffer pain.
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.
- Fill all thy bones with aches.
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Parsley.
Rare spelling of aitch.
A language spoken by the Yi people of South-Western China.
Abbreviation of acetylcholinesterase.
- Coordinate term: BuChE
The neighborhood
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at ache. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at ache. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at ache
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA