▪ I. † ail, a. Obs.
Only found in the forms: 1 eᵹle, 2–3 eille, eil, 4 eyle.
[OE. eᵹle:–*agljo- cogn. w. Goth. aglus.]
Loathsome, troublesome.
| a 1000 Riddles (Grein) lxxi. 16 Ȝif me ordstápe eᵹle wæron. 1205 Layamon 3282 Heore þuhte swiþe eille of æðelene hire fædere [later text eil]. c 1225 Hali Meid. 25 To don hit þat te þuncheð uuel of & eil for ta heren. c 1320 Cast. Loue 223 Eyle and hard and muche. |
▪ II. ail, v.
(eɪl)
Forms: 1 eᵹl-an, 2 eȝl-en (Orm. eȝȝl-enn), 2–3 eil-en, eil-e, 4–5 (eale), eyl(en, eil(en, eil(e, 4–6 eyl(e, 5–7 ayle, aile, 4– ail.
[OE. eᵹl-an cogn. w. Goth. aglj-an; f. eᵹle, *agljo-: see prec.]
† 1. trans. To trouble, afflict. Obs. rare.
| c 940 Sax. Leechd. II. 122 Wið wyrmum þe innan eglað. a 1000 Judith xi. 64 Ðæt he mid lǽððum {uacu}s eᵹlan móste. 1352 Minot Poems viii. 41 Schent war tho schrewes And ailed unsele. |
2. impers. To trouble, afflict, affect unusually. (Now restricted to interrog., rel., and indef. sentences, as what ails you? if anything ailed me.) a. physically.
| 1086 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086 (Earle 220) Him ȝeyfelade, and {thbar} him strangl{iacu}ce eᵹlade. c 1230 Ancr. R. 276 Nu a uleih mei eilen þe, & makien þe to blenchen. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 121 Such seknes vs eileþ. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 68 Maister, what eileth the, thou art lepre? c 1450 Merlin 52 He myght wele a-rise, for hym eyleth noon evell. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxiv. 5 What ayled the (o thou see) that thou fleddest? [1611 ailed; Wyclif, What was to thee.] 1722 De Foe Plague 184 Some have sent for physicians to know what ailed them. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxiv. 231 ‘I don't see as anything ails the child,’ she would say. |
b. mentally. (mod.Sc. what ails you at me? = What cause of dissatisfaction have you with me?)
| c 1090 L. St. Edm. Proœm., Me e[ᵹ]leþ swyðe. c 1200 Ormin 4766 Bilammp himm oþerr wa þatt mare mihht himm eȝȝlenn. a 1300 Cursor M. 20301 Leuedi quat ails te. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 386/1 And demaunded hym what hym eyled and why he sorowed. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. xi. 5 What ayleth the people that they wepe? [1611 aileth; Wyclif, What hath the puple.] 1690 W. Walker Idiom. Ang.-Lat. 18 What ails you to be sad? a 1842 Tennyson Miller's Dau. xii, My mother thought, What ails the boy? For I was alter'd, and began To move about the house with joy. |
† 3. impers. To interfere with, obstruct, prevent.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1560 ‘Sir duk,’ quaþ Rolond, ‘what eyleþ þe{revsc} þer ne buþ noȝt xxxti þare.’ 1440 Promp. Parv., Eylyn, Obsto. c 1440 Generydes 3411 What aylith the to fight? 1563 J. Man Musculus Com. Pl. 286 b, What eyleth it [quid impedit] but by the same reason he should be baptised. |
4. intr. (By mistaking the personal obj., which in early times usually preceded the impersonal vb. for the subj.) To have something the matter with one. a. physically: To be ill, to be indisposed.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxv. 131 And wyth a gud will and a stowte He sayd, þat he wald ayl na-thyng. c 1450 Merlin 3 Know ye ought what thise bestes eiled thus for to dye? 1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. iv. 6 If she be very well, what does she ail, that she's not very well? 1702 Pryme in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1076, I know not what I ail, says he, I cannot swallow any Beer. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 78 And when he ails ever so little..he is so peevish. 1869 Pall Mall G. 18 Aug. 4 No wonder, the Lancet says, that diarrhœa has prevailed, and that the children ail. |
† b. mentally: To be in trouble; to be affected by. Obs. or dial. (mod.Sc. to ail at, as in 2 b.)
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3809 Ȝet he aȝlen on here red. c 1450 Merlin xxix. (1877) 586 Whan Merlin..herde hem make soche doell he asked hem what thei eiled. a 1528 Skelton Magnyfyc. 2393 For who loueth God can ayle nothynge but good. 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. v. (1718) 82 Thou ask'st the Conscience what she ails. 1714 T. Ellwood Autobiog. 20, I knew not what I ayled, but I knew I ayled something more than ordinary: and my Heart was very heavy. c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. III. 191 ‘What can the fool mean?’ said old Richard, ‘What can he ail at the dogs?’ |
▪ III. ail, n.1
(eɪl)
Forms: 3 eil, eile; 7 ayle, aile, 7– ail.
[subst. use of ail v.; but the 13th c. instances are probably subst. use of ail a. The n. is wanting in OE. though found in Goth. aglo.]
Trouble, affliction; affection, illness, ailment.
| c 1230 Ancren Riwle 50 Þe blake cloð also.. deð lesse eile to þen eien. Ibid. 62 Heo habbeð idon muchel eil to moni on ancre. 1642 Rogers Naaman 143 Long custome hath stupified their hearts, and made them senselesse of their ayle. 1734 Watts Reliq. Juv. (1789) 218 Buzzing all my ails into the ears of my friends. 1812 Combe (Dr. Syntax) Picturesque iv, And ointments, too, to cure the ail Of her cropp'd ears and mangled tail. 1852 Moir Scot. Sab. iii. Poet. Wks. II. 39 Soother of life, physician of all ail. |
▪ IV. † ail, n.2 Obs. or dial.
Forms: 1 eᵹl, 2 eiȝle, 3–7 eile, 4 eyle, yle, 6 ayle, 6–8 aile, 8 ail.
[OE. eᵹl cogn. w. Germ. egel, agele, orig. Teut. *agli.]
The awn of barley, or other corn.
[Still used in the Eastern Counties.]
| c 1000 O.E. Gosp. Luke vi. 41 Hwi ᵹesihst þu þa eᵹle on þines broþor eaᵹan? c 1160 Hatton Gosp. ibid., Hwi ȝesyhst þu þa eiȝle on þines broðer eaȝen? c 1230 Ancren Riwle 270 Forto winden hweate & scheaden þe eilen & tet chef urom þe clene cornes. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cx, The beste [nard] is smoþe..with small yles [ed. 1535 eiles]. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 461 The eares (of barley) be..set ful of long bearded sharpe ayles. 1620 Venner Via Recta (1650) 23 Wheat..whose eares are bare and naked without eiles. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 310 Barley should likewise be..well shook in a sack by two men, to be cleared from ailes. |