nauseous English · revision 96

5 Oct 2026, 20:55 by bogdan “Extended entry (pronunciation, etymology, semantic history, meanings) from AHD, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary”
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈnɔːziːəs/, /ˈnɔːsiːəs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈnɔʃəs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ * Respelling: ''nôˈshəs'', ''-zē-əs''^(AHD)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ Formed [[af|en|nausea|-ous]],^(Etymonline) or [[bor|la|nauseōsus]].^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ “Inclined to nausea, easily made queasy” (c. 1600), a sense now obsolete.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The sense “causing nausea” followed in the 1610s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the figurative “loathsome, disgusting” by 1663.^(OED 1989) According to Random House, the two literal senses, “causing nausea” and “affected with nausea”, both appeared in the early 17th century;^(RHWU) Wiktionary dates “affected with nausea” only from the 19th century.^(Wiktionary) Today ''nauseous'' is used mostly to mean “feeling sick”,^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) while in the sense “causing nausea” it is losing ground to [[nauseating]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1604 – “inclined to nausea; squeamish”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1612 – “causing nausea”.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)
+ * 1663 – figuratively, “loathsome, disgusting”.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1727 – of tastes and smells, “nasty, unpleasant”.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Feeling sick; affected with nausea.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Causing nausea; sickening, disgusting.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[nauseously]]^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ * [[nauseousness]]^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[nausea]]^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)
+ * [[nauseate]], [[nauseated]], [[nauseating]]^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Traditional critics hold that ''nauseous'' should mean only “causing nausea”, and that ''nauseated'' is correct for “feeling sick”;^(AHD) 72 percent of the American Heritage Usage Panel preferred ''nauseated'' in ''Roller coasters make me nauseous''.^(AHD) Merriam-Webster calls this view mistaken, since ''nauseous'' is now most often used for “affected with nausea”, usually after verbs like ''feel''.^(MW Collegiate) The American Heritage Dictionary notes a subtle distinction: ''nauseated'' suggests a specific external cause, while ''nauseous'' describes a state whose cause may be unknown.^(AHD)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}