ail

Meanings

Verb

• To cause to suffer; to trouble, afflict. (Now chiefly in interrogative or indefinite constructions.)
• To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled.

Noun

• An ailment; trouble; illness.
• The awn of barley or other types of corn.

Adjective

• Painful; troublesome.

Origin

• From Middle English eilen, from Old English eġlan, eġlian, cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 ("to distress").
• From Middle English eyle, eile, from Old English eġle ("hideous, loathsome, hateful, horrid, troublesome, grievous, painful"). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 ("hard, difficult").
• From Middle English eile, eyle, eiȝle, from Old English eġl ("an ail; awn; beard of barley; mote"), from Proto-Germanic *agilō ("awn"). Cognate with German Achel, Egel, Ägel.