sickness English · revision 39380

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Old English, Canons of Edgar|origins=ang sēoc}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈsɪknɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|siknesse]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|sēocnes|t=sickness, disease]] (also [[m|ang|sēocnesse]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(ODE 2010) formed [[af|ang|sēoc|-nes|t1=sick]], the ancestors of [[sick]] and [[-ness]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The state of being ill, and also a particular disease: both in Old English, in the Canons of Edgar and in the medical texts known as the Leechdoms.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For centuries ''sickness'' meant the same as ''illness'', with figurative uses from the 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gives the senses "state of being diseased" and "disease, malady".^(Johnson 1755) A disturbance of the stomach with retching or vomiting is recorded from 1604,^(OED 2026) and in the late 19th century the word began to narrow towards nausea and stomach upsets, leaving ''illness'' as, in the Century Dictionary's words quoted by Etymonline, "a rather more elegant and less definite term".^(Etymonline) Other specialized senses were a fault in wine (1674), utter disgust or weariness (1779, in Fanny Burney), and a sickly colour (1849, in Ruskin).^(OED 2026) In Scotland and Westmorland it was a disease of sheep, also called braxy or blackwater.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – illness; a particular disease.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1340 – figurative use, in Richard Rolle.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1604 – nausea and vomiting.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1674 – a defect in wines.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1755 – Johnson: state of being diseased; disease, malady.^(Johnson 1755)

+ * 1779 – utter disgust or weariness.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1794 – a disease of sheep.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of being ill; [[illness]], poor health.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A particular [[disease]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # [[nausea|alt=Nausea]] or [[vomiting]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # An unsound or corrupt condition of something.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[airsickness]]

+ * [[carsickness]]

+ * [[greensickness]]

+ * [[seasickness]]

+ * [[African sleeping sickness]]

+ * [[altitude sickness]]

+ * [[decompression sickness]]

+ * [[falling sickness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sick]]

+ * [[illness]]

+ * [[disease]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}