ailment
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ailment
Explanation
If you've got a rash or a persistent cough, you can call that an ailment. Some other common ailments are allergies or chronic headaches. They can be a real pain. Literally. The word ailment comes from the Old English eglan meaning "to trouble, plague, afflict," and the suffix -ment from the Latin mentum, which when added to the end of word describing an action turns that word into the result of that action. So the result of something that troubles, plagues or afflicts you is an ailment — a pain or discomfort that just doesn't seem to go away.
Vocabulary lists containing ailment
Chains
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The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
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The Fault in Our Stars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
October 12 Muti’s Ailment Said to Be Caused by Exhaustion and Stress Stomach pains have forced the conductor to withdraw from performances.
From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2010
Worst Ailment, worse than pneumonia or cancer, in that it handicaps or kills more people yearly, is the group of ailments called heart disease.
From Time Magazine Archive
The following correspondence, clearly intended for the Editor of The Daily Ailment, has found its way into our letter-box.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, December 15, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
One day the feeble little Ailment was wandering aimlessly about in search of a resting-place, when it came upon an enormous establishment thronged with thousands of working-men.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 98, January 18, 1890 by Burnand, F. C. (Francis Cowley), Sir
Then the little Ailment related to the Editor stories of Russia, and the East, and all sorts of wonderful things.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 98, January 18, 1890 by Burnand, F. C. (Francis Cowley), Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
