allergic English · revision 39683

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1908, The Lancet}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /əˈlɜː.dʒɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /əˈlɝ.dʒɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed [[af|en|allergy|-ic]] in English,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) after [[de|allergisch]], which the Austrian paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet used in 1906.^(OED 2026) Barnhart and Etymonline note that [[fr|allergique]] is recorded in 1906 as well, and Etymonline thinks the English word may be modelled on it.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster treats it as a word of the international scientific vocabulary.^(MWU 2024) ''Allergy'' itself is [[m|de|Allergie]], coined by Pirquet in 1906^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|ἄλλος|tr=állos|t=other, different, strange]];^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline) Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary take the second part from [[m|grc|ἔργον|tr=érgon|t=work, action]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) while the OED and the Oxford Dictionary of English see the ending of [[m|grc|ἐνέργεια|tr=enérgeia|t=activity]], on the pattern of [[m|de|Energie]].^(OED 2026)^(ODE 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the nature of allergy, relating to it or caused by it: 1908, in ''The Lancet''.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Merriam-Webster also gives 1908,^(MWU 2024) while Etymonline and Barnhart date the English adjective to 1911,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and Dictionary.com to 1910–15.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense "having an allergy to a particular substance" is recorded from 1917, in the ''American Journal of Botany''.^(OED 2026) The figurative sense, sensitive to or averse to someone or something, appeared within a generation:^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) the OED's first example is a ''New Yorker'' caption of 1937,^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) and Etymonline dates it to 1936.^(Etymonline) Green's Dictionary of Slang treats this use as originally American, usually with hostile overtones, and quotes ''Punch'' in 1942 for a British example.^(GDoS) Collins still labels it informal.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1906 – [[m|de|allergisch]] used by Pirquet; [[m|fr|allergique]] is also recorded.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1908 – of or caused by allergy.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1911 – Etymonline's and Barnhart's date for the adjective.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1917 – having an allergy to a substance.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1937 – figurative, averse or antipathetic to something.^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or caused by an [[allergy]]: ''an allergic rash''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Having an allergy, usually with ''to'': ''My brother is allergic to peanuts.''^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(informal)'' Having a strong dislike of something, with ''to'': ''He seems allergic to housework.''^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[antiallergic]]

+ * [[nonallergic]]

+ * [[photoallergic]]

+ * [[allergic rhinitis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[allergen]]

+ * [[allergy]]

+ * [[energy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}