ache

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A dull, steady pain.

   After the long flight I had a dull ache in my back.

2. 2
   verb

   To feel a continuous dull pain.

   My feet ached for days after the marathon.

3. 3
   verb

   To want something or someone very much.

   She ached for home during her first weeks abroad.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Ache comes from Old English and has a Germanic root. The noun was once pronounced like the name of the letter H, while the verb was spelled ake and pronounced as ache is today. Around 1700, the noun adopted the verb’s pronunciation. The modern spelling is largely due to Dr Johnson’s mistaken belief that the word came from Greek akhos, “pain.”

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), 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…

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary