Etymologically
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ache

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Pronunciation

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English aken,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English acan (“to ache, be in pain”),[5][3][6] a strong verb whose past tense was ōc,[5][7] from Proto-Germanic *akaną.[3][8] It is cognate with Middle Low German ēken (“to discharge pus”) and with the base of Middle Dutch akel (“injury, harm”).[9][10][11] Its further origin is uncertain.[9][12] The OED suggests the same Indo-European base as Ancient Greek ἄγω (ágō, “to drive”), which would make it at first a "dragging" pain,[9] and Orel holds it to be historically the same verb as Old Norse aka (“to drive in a vehicle”).[13] Kroonen, starting from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵ-e-, compares Avestan āzi- (“greed”), which could match the noun.[14] Another proposal links it with Ancient Greek ἄγος (ágos, “guilt”) and a Sanskrit word for sin,[9][15][8] and Ayto and Holthausen mention Old High German ah, an exclamation of pain.[11][6] The noun is inherited from Middle English ache, also eche,[16][10] inherited from Old English æce, also ece,[5][16][10] from Proto-Germanic *akiz,[3][8][16] a noun formed from the verb.[9][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a pain, especially a lasting dull one, is recorded before 899, in the Old English translation of Bede.[9][8] The verb, of a part of the body, to be painful, is recorded in early Old English in Bald's Leechbook,[9] and Barnhart cites it from about 1000, in Ælfric's Grammar.[8] Bosworth–Toller quotes Acaþ míne eágan, "my eyes ache", from Ælfric.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the verb was used of the aching part of the body, and until about 1425 it could also take the sufferer as object.[9] From before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, it was said of the person in pain, and also of mental distress.[9] The sense "to long for", with for or an infinitive, is recorded from 1622,[9] and the transitive "to cause pain" from about 1550, now chiefly figurative and poetic;[9] in Scotland and Ireland it was still used transitively in dialect around 1900, and in Sussex ache meant to be weary of waiting or to long for something.[17] The verb was strong in Old English and took weak forms from the 15th century.[9][16] The phrase aches and pains is recorded from 1579.[9] Chaucer used aken four times as ake.[18]

Timeline

  • before 899 – noun æce, pain, in the Old English Bede.[9][8]
  • c. 1000 – verb acan, in Ælfric's Grammar.[8][5]
  • before 1382 – of a person, to suffer pain or distress.[9]
  • c. 1550 – transitive, to cause to suffer pain.[9]
  • 1579 – aches and pains.[9]
  • 1622 – to long for something.[9]
  • c. 1700 – the noun begins to be pronounced like the verb.[15][19]
  • 1755 – Johnson enters the noun as ache and the verb as ake.[9]
  • c. 1820 – the old pronunciation of the noun with -ch falls out of general use.[16]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To feel, or be the source of, a dull, persistent pain: His knees ached after the long climb.[20][10][9]
  2. To feel distress, sorrow or compassion: Her heart ached for the flood victims.[20][10][9]
  3. To long intensely for something or to do something: The children were aching to go outside.[9][15]

Noun

  1. A dull, continuous pain: a dull ache in his lower back.[20][10][9]
  2. A feeling of sorrow or longing likened to such a pain.[10][15]
  3. aches and pains: minor ailments and physical discomforts.[9][15]

Word family

  • achy
  • backache
  • heartache
  • bellyache
  • earache
  • headache
  • stomachache
  • toothache

Usage notes

The verb and noun were long pronounced and spelled differently, like bake and batch or speak and speech: the verb had /k/ and was spelled ake, the noun had /tʃ/ and was spelled ache.[9][7][15] Shakespeare could still pun on the noun and the letter name H in 1600.[9] The noun began to be said like the verb about 1700,[15][19] although the pronunciation with -ch remained common until about 1820.[16] The spelling ache for both is largely due to Johnson, who wrongly derived the word from Ancient Greek ἄχος (ákhos, “pain”) and said the verb should be "more grammatically written ache".[9][15][19][8] Barnhart notes that the noun was already often spelled ake in the 15th century.[8] An obsolete ache meaning parsley or wild celery, from French and ultimately from Latin apium (“celery, parsley”), is a separate borrowing, used from the 13th century.[9][10][15]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  6. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  18. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  19. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  20. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins