ail

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

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Middle English eyle, eile, from Old English eġle (“hideous, loathsome, hateful, horrid, troublesome, grievous, painful”), from Proto-Germanic *agluz (“cumbersome, tedious, burdensome, tiresome”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰlo-, *h₂egʰ- (“offensive, disgusting, repulsive, hateful”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 (aglus, “hard, difficult”).

Adjective

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

1. (obsolete) Painful; troublesome.

Etymology 2

From Middle English eilen, from Old English eġlan, eġlian (“to trouble, afflict”), cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (agljan, “to distress”).

Verb

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

1. (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.

   • Bible, Genesis xxi. 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?

2. (intransitive) To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled.
   • Richardson

     When he ails ever so little […] he is so peevish.

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:ail.

Translations

to cause to suffer

• Bulgarian: боли (bg) (boli), безпокои (bg) (bezpokoi)
• 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)
• 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
• Russian: боле́ть (ru) (bolétʹ), недомога́ть (ru) (nedomogátʹ)
• Spanish: padecer (es), adolecer (es)

Noun

ail (plural ails)

1. (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 3

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.

Alternative forms

• ile

Noun

ail (plural ails)

1. The awn of barley or other types of corn.

Anagrams

• -ial, Ali, IAL, LIA, Lai, ali-, lai

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Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• alj

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Noun

ail

1. garlic

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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)

1. garlic

Derived terms

• alliacé
• ailler

Further reading

• “ail” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• lai, lia

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Irish

Alternative forms

• oil

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alʲ/

Noun

ail f (genitive singular aileach, nominative plural aileacha)

1. 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 (“cliff, precipice”)
• ailt (“side of a glen”)

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.

Further reading

• "ail" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• “1 ail” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
• “ail” in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, Irish Texts Society, 2nd ed., 1927, by Patrick S. Dinneen.
• Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, vol. II, p. 22.

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin allium.

Noun

ail m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey) garlic

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Old Irish

Verb

·ail

1. 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.

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Welsh

Welsh ordinal numbers

<  1af	2il	3ydd  >
Cardinal : dau     Ordinal : ail     Adverbial : dwywaith     Multiplier : dwbl

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ai̯l/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

ail (feminine singular ail, plural ail, not comparable) (triggers soft mutation)

1. second (ordinal number)

   ail lawr ― second floor

Derived terms

• ail-

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.