pain

Meanings

Noun

• An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
• The condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress
• An annoying person or thing.
• Suffering inflicted as punishment or penalty.
• Labour; effort; great care or trouble taken in doing something.
• Any of various breads stuffed with a filling.

Verb

• To hurt; to put to bodily uneasiness or anguish; to afflict with uneasy sensations of any degree of intensity; to torment; to torture.
• To render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve.
• To inflict suffering upon as a penalty; to punish.
• To feel pain; to hurt.

Related

Similar words

• pest

Opposite words

• pleasure

Narrower meaning words

• agony
• anguish
• pang
• neuropathic pain
• nociceptive pain
• phantom pain
• psychogenic pain

Origin

• From Middle English peyne, payne, from Old French and Anglo-Norman peine, from Latin poena ("punishment, pain"), from Ancient Greek ποινή ("bloodmoney, weregild, fine, price paid, penalty"). Compare Danish pine, Norwegian Bokmål pine, German Pein, Dutch pijn, Afrikaans pyn. See also pine (the verb). Partially displaced native Old English sār (whence English sore).
• From Middle English payn, from Old French pain ("bread").