sick English · revision 2822

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 899|origins=gem-pro *seukaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sik]], sek,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|sēoc|t=ill, diseased, weak; corrupt; troubled]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*seukaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the general Germanic word, which is of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Frisian siāk, Old Saxon siok, Dutch ziek, German siech, Old Norse sjúkr and Gothic siuks;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) in German and Dutch it was displaced by krank.^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Middle Irish socht “silence, depression” and Armenian forms,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*seug-|t=troubled, sad, sick]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ill, unwell: before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius,^(Barnhart 1988) and about 888 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Old English sēoc also meant “feeble”, “corrupt” and “sad, troubled, deeply affected”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Sick was the usual English word for physical illness until [[ill]] arrived in the early Middle Ages, and it is still normal in the US;^(Cresswell 2021) in British English ''sick'' now usually means “inclined to vomit”, a restricted sense from 1614.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The sense “longing, pining” and “weary of something”, as in ''sick of it'', arose in Middle English and the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD) The spiritually or morally corrupt sense was already in Old English,^(Etymonline) and ''sick joke'', in bad taste, is by 1958.^(Etymonline) Tsar Nicholas I's remark of 1853 made Turkey ''the sick man of Europe'' in the late 19th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(OED 1989) In drug slang, an addict craving a dose is ''sick'' from 1951.^(OED 1989) The noun “vomit” is colloquial British from 1957–59.^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) ''Sicken'' is from about 1200, ''sickly'' from before 1375 and ''sick bay'' from 1813.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 899 – ill, unwell.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – ''sicken''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1375 – ''sickly''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1614 – nauseated.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1813 – ''sick bay''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1853 – ''the sick man'' of Europe.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1951 – of an addict, craving a drug.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1958 – ''sick joke''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Suffering from an [[illness]]; ill.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Feeling that one is about to [[vomit]]; [[nauseous|alt=nauseated]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Mentally ill; [[morbid]] or in bad taste: ''a sick joke''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Deeply distressed, disgusted or weary: ''sick of waiting''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Longing, pining: ''sick for home''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''the sick'': Sick people.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(British, informal)'' Vomit.^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sickly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sickness]]

+ * [[sicken]]

+ * [[ill]]

+ * [[seek]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate verb ''sick'' or ''sic'', “to set a dog on someone” (''sick him!''), is a dialect variant of [[seek]] from 1845.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}