Ail

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /eɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl

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 *agʰlo-, *agʰ- ("offensive, disgusting, repulsive, hateful"). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 (aglus, "hard, difficult").

Full definition of ail

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Painful; troublesome.

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

Verb

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. 17What 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.
• RichardsonWhen he ails ever so little ... he is so peevish.

Noun

1. An ailment; trouble; illness.

From Old English eġl.

Noun

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

Anagrams

• Ali
• lai, Lai