ail

See also: ail-, -ail, àil, áil, -áil, and Äil

English

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /eɪl/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪl
Homophone: ale

Etymology 1

From Middle English eilen, from Old English eġlan, eġlian (“to trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *aglijan, from Proto-Germanic *aglijaną (“to trouble, vex”), cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (agljan, “to distress”).

Verb

ail (third-person singular simple present ails, present participle ailing, simple past and past participle ailed)

(transitive) To cause to suffer; to trouble, afflict. (Now chiefly in interrogative or indefinite constructions.)
Have some chicken soup. It's good for what ails you.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 21:17:
  What aileth thee, Hagar?
- 2011, "Connubial bliss in America", The Economist:
  Not content with having in 1996 put a Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) on the statue book, Congress has now begun to hold hearings on a Respect for Marriage Act. Defended, respected: what could possibly ail marriage in America?
(intransitive) To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled.
- 1740, Samuel Richardson, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded
  When he ails ever so little […] he is so peevish.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ail.

Translations

to cause to suffer

Arabic: عَذَّبَ‎ (ʿaḏḏaba)
Bulgarian: боли (bg) (boli), безпокои (bg) (bezpokoi)
Czech: trápit (cs) impf
Dutch: schelen (nl), mankeren (nl)
Finnish: vaivata (fi)
French: manquer (fr), faillir (fr)
German: weh tun (de), plagen (de)
Portuguese: afligir (pt)
Russian: трево́жить (ru) (trevóžitʹ), беспоко́ить (ru) (bespokóitʹ)
Slovak: trápiť impf
Spanish: aquejar (es), afligir (es)

to be ill

Bulgarian: болен съм (bolen sǎm), неразположен съм (nerazpoložen sǎm)
Dutch: ziek zijn, iets mankeren, sukkelen (nl)
Finnish: sairastaa (fi)
French: être malade, souffrir (fr)
German: kränklich sein, leiden (de), krank sein, kränkeln (de)
Greek:
Ancient: νοσέω (noséō)
Latvian: sirgt
Portuguese: estar doente/aflito
Romanian: a boli impf
Russian: боле́ть (ru) (bolétʹ), недомога́ть (ru) (nedomogátʹ)
Spanish: padecer (es), adolecer (es)

Noun

ail (plural ails)

(obsolete) An ailment; trouble; illness.

Translations

An ailment; trouble; illness

Bulgarian: болка (bg) (bolka), болест (bg) (bolest)
Finnish: vaiva (fi)
German: Krankheit (de) f, Leiden (de) n
Latvian: liga (lv) f
Spanish: enfermedad (es) f

Etymology 2

From Middle English eyle, eile, from Old English eġle (“hideous, loathsome, hateful, horrid, troublesome, grievous, painful”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 (aglus, “hard, difficult”).

Adjective

ail (comparative ailer or more ail, superlative ailest or most ail)

(obsolete) Painful; troublesome.

Etymology 3

From Middle English eile, eyle, eiȝle, from Old English eġl (“an ail; awn; beard of barley; mote”), from Proto-Germanic *agilō (“awn”), related to *ahaz (“ear (of grain)”).[1] Cognate with German Achel, Egel, Ägel.

Alternative forms

ile

Noun

ail (plural ails)

The awn of barley or other types of corn.

References

Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Achel”, in , John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Anagrams

-ial, Ali, IAL, LIA, Lai, ali-, lai

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

alj

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Noun

ail

(Vegliot) garlic

References

Ive, A. (1886), “L'antico dialetto di Veglia [The old dialect of Veglia]”, in G. I. Ascoli, editor, Archivio glottologico italiano [Italian linguistic archive], volume 9, Rome: E. Loescher, pages 115–187

French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin allium.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /aj/
Audio (Paris) (file)
Audio (file)
Homophones: aïe, aille, ailles, aillent, ails

Noun

ail m (plural ails or aulx)

garlic

Derived terms

ail des ours
ail sauvage
alliacé
ailler

Descendants

Haitian Creole: lay (from l'ail)
Mauritian Creole: lay (from l'ail)
Moore: lay (from l'ail)

Anagrams

lai, lia

Irish

Alternative forms

oil

Etymology

From Old Irish ail (“boulder, rock”), from Proto-Celtic *ɸales-, from Proto-Indo-European *pelis-, *pels- (“stone”).[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /alʲ/

Noun

ail f (genitive singular aileach, nominative plural aileacha or ailche)

stone, rock

Declension

Declension of ail

Fifth declension

Bare forms

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ail	aileacha
Vocative	a ail	a aileacha
Genitive	aileach	aileacha
Dative	ail	aileacha

Forms with the definite article

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	an ail	na haileacha
Genitive	na haileach	na n-aileacha
Dative	leis an ail don ail	leis na haileacha

Archaic plural: ailche

Derived terms

ail leachta, ail in úir (“headstone, monument”)

Related terms

aill
ailt

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ail	n-ail	hail	not applicable
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*fales-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 120

Middle English

Noun

ail

Alternative form of ale (“beer”)

Noun

ail

Alternative form of hayle (“hail”)

Norman

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin allium.

Noun

ail m (uncountable)

(Jersey) garlic

Old Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /alʲ/

Etymology 1

Possibly from Proto-Celtic *ɸalos, from Proto-Indo-European *pels-, *pelis- (“rock, cliff”), see also German Fels (“rock”).[1]

The declension was not stable at the start of the Old Irish period, with a shift from an i-stem declension to a k-stem declension ongoing.

Noun

ail f (genitive ailech, nominative plural ailich)

rock
foundation

Inflection

Feminine i-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ail	ail^L	aili^H
Vocative	ail	ail^L	aili^H
Accusative	ail^N	ail^L	aili^H
Genitive	alo^H, ala^H	alo^H, ala^H	aile^N
Dative	ail^L	ailib	ailib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: ^H = triggers aspiration ^L = triggers lenition ^N = triggers nasalization

Feminine k-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ail	ailich^L	ailich
Vocative	ail	ailich^L	ailchea
Accusative	ailich^N	ailich^L	ailchea
Genitive	ailech	ailech	ailech^N
Dative	ailich^L	ailchib	ailchib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: ^H = triggers aspiration ^L = triggers lenition ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

Middle Irish: ail
- Irish: ail

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
ail	unchanged	n-ail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Verb

·ail

third-person singular present indicative conjunct of ailid

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
·ail	unchanged	·n-ail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*fales-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 120

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English eilen, from Old English eġlan, eġlian (“to trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *aglijan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːl/

Verb

ail (third-person singular simple present ails, present participle ailin, simple past ailt, past participle ailt)

to trouble, afflict (of body or mind)
to hinder, prevent
to be ill

References

“ail, v.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Welsh

**Welsh numbers ^(edit)**
	20
← 1	2	3 → ^{[a], [b]}
Cardinal (masculine): dau Cardinal (feminine): dwy Ordinal: ail, eilfed Ordinal abbreviation: 2il Adverbial: dwywaith Multiplier: dwbl
Welsh Wikipedia article on 2

Alternative forms

2il (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle Welsh eil, from Proto-Brythonic *ėl, from Proto-Celtic *alyos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos (“other”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ai̯l/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ai̯l

Adjective

ail (feminine singular ail, plural ail, not comparable) (precedes the noun, triggers soft mutation of all nouns)

(ordinal number) second
Synonym: eilfed
yr ail lawr ― the second floor

Derived terms

ail- (“re-”), eil- (“re-”)
eiliad (“a second”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ail	unchanged	unchanged	hail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

[1] Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Achel”, in , John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

[2] Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*fales-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 120

[3] Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*fales-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 120

ail

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Verb

Quotations

Translations

Noun

Translations

Etymology 2

Adjective

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

Noun

References

Anagrams

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

References

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Anagrams

Irish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Mutation

References

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

Noun

Norman

Etymology

Noun

Old Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Inflection

Descendants

Mutation

Verb

Mutation

References

Further reading

Scots

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

References

Welsh

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Mutation