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Webster 1913 Edition

Ail

Ail

(āl)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Ailed
(āld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Ailing
.]
[OE.
eilen
,
ailen
, AS.
eglan
to trouble, pain; akin to Goth. us-
agljan
to distress,
agls
troublesome, irksome,
aglo
,
aglitha
, pain, and prob. to E.
awe
. √3.]
To affect with pain or uneasiness, either physical or mental; to trouble; to be the matter with; – used to express some uneasiness or affection, whose cause is unknown;
as, what
ails
the man? I know not what
ails
him
.
What
aileth
thee, Hagar?
Gen. xxi. 17.
☞ It is never used to express a specific disease. We do not say, a fever ails him; but, something ails him.

Ail

,
Verb.
I.
To be affected with pain or uneasiness of any sort; to be ill or indisposed or in trouble.
When he
ails
ever so little . . . he is so peevish.
Richardson.

Ail

,
Noun.
Indisposition or morbid affection.
Pope.

Webster 1828 Edition

Ail

AIL

, v.t.
To trouble; to affect with uneasiness, either of body or mind; used to express some uneasiness or affection, whose cause is unknown; as, what ails the man? I know not what ails him.
What aileth thee, Hagar? Gen. 21.
It is never used to express a specific disease. We never say, he ails a pleurisy; but it is unusual to say, he ails something; he ails nothing; nothing ails him.

AIL

,
Noun.
Indisposition, or morbid affection.

Definition 2024

ail

ail

See also: áil, àil, Äil, -ail, and -áil

English

Adjective

ail ‎(comparative ailer or more ail, superlative ailest or most ail)

  1. (obsolete) Painful; troublesome.

Etymology 2

From Old English eġlan, eġlian ‎(“to trouble, afflict”), cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 ‎(agljan, “to distress”).

Verb

ail ‎(third-person singular simple present ails, present participle ailing, simple past and past participle ailed)

  1. (transitive) To cause to suffer; to trouble, afflict. (Now chiefly in interrogative or indefinite constructions.)
    Have some chicken soup. It's good for what ails you.
    • Bible, Genesis xxi. 17
      What aileth thee, Hagar?
    • 2011, "Connubial bliss in America", The Economist:
      Not content with having in 1996 put a Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the statue book, Congress has now begun to hold hearings on a Respect for Marriage Act. Defended, respected: what could possibly ail marriage in America?
  2. (intransitive) To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled.
    • Richardson
      When he ails ever so little […] he is so peevish.
Quotations
  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:ail.
Translations

Noun

ail ‎(plural ails)

  1. An ailment; trouble; illness.
Translations

Etymology 3

From Old English eġl.

Noun

ail ‎(plural ails)

  1. The awn of barley or other types of corn.

Anagrams

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Noun

ail

  1. garlic

French

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Pronunciation

Noun

ail m ‎(plural ails or aulx)

  1. garlic

Derived terms

Anagrams

Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Irish ail ‎(“boulder, rock”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸales-, from Proto-Indo-European *pelis-, *pels- ‎(“stone”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /alʲ/

Noun

ail f ‎(genitive singular aileach, nominative plural aileacha)

  1. stone, rock

Declension

  • Archaic plural: ailche

Derived terms

  • ail leachta, ail in úir ‎(“headstone, monument”)

Related terms

  • aill ‎(“cliff, precipice”)
  • ailt ‎(“side of a glen”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Eclipsis with h-prothesis with t-prothesis
ail n-ail hail t-ail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*fales-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, ISBN 978-90-04-17336-1, page 120
  • "ail" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
  • “1 ail” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “ail” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 1927, by Patrick S. Dinneen.
  • Franz Nikolaus Finck, 1899, Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, 22.

Norman

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Noun

ail m ‎(uncountable)

  1. (Jersey) garlic

Old Irish

Verb

·ail

  1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct of ailid

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
·ail unchanged ·n-ail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Welsh

Welsh ordinal numbers
 <  1af 2il 3ydd  > 
    Cardinal : dau
    Ordinal : ail
    Adverbial : dwywaith
    Multiplier : dwbl

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *ėl, from Proto-Celtic *alyos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos ‎(“other”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ai̯l/

Adjective

ail ‎(feminine singular ail, plural ail, not comparable)

  1. second

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
ail unchanged unchanged hail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

From Middle English eyle, eile, from Old English eġle ‎(“hideous, loathsome, hateful, horrid, troublesome, grievous, painful”), from Proto-Germanic *agluz ‎(“cumbersome, tedious, burdensome, tiresome”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰlo-, *h₂egʰ- ‎(“offensive, disgusting, repulsive, hateful”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 ‎(aglus, “hard, difficult”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /eɪl/
  • Rhymes: -eɪl

Similar Results