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Definition ache

Etymology 1

From Middle English aken (verb), and ache (noun), from Old English acan (verb) (from Proto-Germanic *akan? (“to be bad, be evil”)) and æ?e (noun) (from Proto-Germanic *akiz), both from Proto-Indo-European *ag- (“sin, crime”). Cognate with Low German aken, achen, äken (“to hurt, to ache”), North Frisian akelig, æklig (“terrible, miserable, sharp, intense”), West Frisian aaklik (“nasty, horrible, dismal, dreary”), Dutch akelig (“nasty, horrible”). The noun was originally pronounced as spelled, with a palatized ch sound (compare batch, from bake); the verb was originally strong, conjugating for tense like take (e.g. I ake, I oke, I have aken), but gradually became weak during Middle English. Historically the verb was spelled ake, and the noun ache. The verb came to be spelled like the noun when lexicographist Samuel Johnson mistakenly assumed that it derived from Ancient Greek ???? (ákhos, “pain”) due to the similarity in form and meaning of the two words.

Verb

ache (third-person singular simple present aches, present participle aching, simple past ached or (obsolete) oke, past participle ached or (obsolete) aken)

1. (intransitive) To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
2. (transitive, literary, rare) To cause someone or something to suffer pain.

Noun

ache (plural aches)

1. Continued dull pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ache, from Old French ache, from Latin apium (“celery”). Reinforced by modern French ache.

Noun

ache (plural aches)

1. (obsolete) parsley

Etymology 3

Representing the pronunciation of the letter H.

Noun

ache (plural aches)

1. Rare spelling of aitch.

Results 394 Words with the letters ACHE

You can also try words with the phrase ACHE, words starting with the letters ACHE, or words ending in the letters ACHE.

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