ail

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

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Usage notes

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.

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.
   • (Can we date this quote by Richardson and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

Quotations

• For quotations using 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: weh tun (de), plagen (de)
• Interlingue:
• 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)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue:
• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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

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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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ail”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ail”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927) “ail”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society
• Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 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

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.

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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.