sore

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /sɔː/, US /sɔːr/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English sār (“painful, grievous, aching”) (before 899, in Alfred's Pastoral Care),^[2][3][4] from *sairaz,^[2][3] cognate with Old Saxon sēr, Dutch zeer, Old High German sēr (German sehr, very), Old Norse sárr, sore, wounded, and Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍂 (sair), pain.^[2][3][4][5] Possible cognates outside Germanic are Old Irish sāeth, pain, and Latin saevus, fierce.^[2][3][5] Etymonline thinks its meaning was influenced by Old Norse.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, bodily pain, about 825,^[6] and as an adjective painful, aching, before 899.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The noun also meant sickness, a wound, and grief or sorrow in Old and Middle English,^[6][3][4] and is now restricted to places where the skin is broken or inflamed, a sense already found in late Old English.^[3][6] The adverb, grievously (sore afraid), was Old English sāre and has mostly given way to sorely, though its German cognate sehr is the usual word for “very”.^[3][7] The slang sense, angry or irritated, is recorded by 1738.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 825 – bodily pain (noun).^[6]
• before 899 – painful (adjective).^[2]
• c. 1000 – a sore spot on the body.^[6]
• 1738 – angry (slang).^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Painful or tender to the touch.
2. Feeling physical pain; aching.
3. (informal) Angry or resentful.
4. Causing distress or annoyance: a sore point.
5. (literary) Urgent or severe: in sore need.

Noun

1. An open or painful place on the skin, such as a wound or ulcer.
2. A source of pain or irritation.

Adverb

1. (archaic) Sorely.

Word family

• soreness
• sorehead
• unsore
• sorely
• bedsore
• eyesore
• footsore

Related words

• sorry

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press