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Origin and history of ailing

ailing(adj.)

"sick, ill, suffering," 1590s, present-participle adjective from ail (v.).

also from 1590s

Entries linking to ailing

ail(v.)

Middle English eilen, ailen, "trouble, afflict, harm," from Old English eglan "to trouble, plague, afflict," from Proto-Germanic *azljaz (source also of Old English egle "hideous, loathsome, troublesome, painful;" Gothic agls "shameful, disgraceful," agliþa "distress, affliction, hardship," us-agljan "to oppress, afflict"), from PIE *agh-lo-, suffixed form of root *agh- (1) "to be depressed, be afraid." Related: Ailed; ailing; ails.

From late Old English also of mental states and moods. Phrase what ails you? "what is wrong with you? why do you behave that way?" is by c. 1300 (what eileth the?)

It is remarkable, that this word is never used but with some indefinite term, or the word no thing; as What ails him? ... Thus we never say, a fever ails him. [Johnson]
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    indisposed
    c. 1400, "unprepared;" early 15c., "not in order," from in- (1) "not" + disposed; or else from Late Latin indispositus "without order, confused." From mid-15c. in English as "diseased;" modern sense of "not very well, slightly ill" is from 1590s. A verb indispose is attested from
    peaked
    "sickly-looking; having an unhealthy, emaciated appearance," 1835, from past participle of the obsolete or dialectal verb peak "look sickly or thin, shrink, waste away" (1540s), which is perhaps from peak on the notion of "become pointed" through emaciation. Middle English had al
    seedy
    mid-15c., sēdi, "fruitful, abundant" (Of bounteuousnesse þat hous was ful sedy), from seed (n.) + -y (2). From 1570s as "abounding in seeds." The modern meaning "shabby, no longer fresh or new" is attested by 1725, slang, originally especially "poor, out of money;" probably in re
    malinger
    from French malingrer "to suffer," a slang word that probably also at one time meant "pretend to be ill," from malingre "ailing...
    cranky
    Ailing sickly from the dutch crank, sick," and identifies it as a Northern word (this is probably from the vagabond slang...
    well
    .; "in good health, not ailing" is from 1550s. Well-to-do "prosperous" is recorded by 1794....
    hurt
    c. 1200, "to injure, wound" (the body, feelings, reputation, etc.), also "to stumble (into), bump into; charge against, rush, crash into; knock (things) together," from Old French hurter "to ram, strike, collide with" (Modern French heurter), a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps f
    Ruth
    fem. proper name, biblical ancestor of David, from Hebrew Ruth, probably a contraction of reuth "companion, friend, fellow woman." The Old Testament book tells her story....c. 1200, perhaps late Old English, ruthe, "misery, sorrow, grief;" also "pity, compassion, sorrow for the m
    pain
    late 13c., peine, "the agony suffered by Christ;" c. 1300, "punishment," especially for a crime, "legal punishment of any sort" (including fines and monetary penalties); also "condition one feels when hurt, opposite of pleasure," including mental or emotional suffering, grief, di
    trouble
    c. 1200, from Old French trubler, metathesis of turbler, torbler "to trouble, disturb; make cloudy, stir up, mix" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *turbulare, from Late Latin turbidare "to trouble, make turbid," from Latin turbidus (see turbid). Related: Troubled; troubling....c. 1200,

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