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)

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.

   • 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?

2. (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)

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 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)

1. (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”). 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

---

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• alj

Etymology

From Latin allium.

Noun

ail

1. (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)

1. 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)

Further reading

• “ail”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alʲ/

Noun

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

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
• 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.

Further reading

• "ail" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 ail”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• “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.

---

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

ail

1. Alternative form of ale (“beer”)

Etymology 2

Noun

ail

1. Alternative form of hayle (“hail”)

---

Norman

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin allium.

Noun

ail m (uncountable)

1. (Jersey) garlic

---

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alʲ/

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.

---

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)

1. to trouble, afflict (of body or mind)
2. to hinder, prevent
3. to be ill

References

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

---

Welsh

Welsh ordinal numbers

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

Alternative forms

• 2il

Etymology

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)

1. second (ordinal number)

   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.