sicken, v.
(ˈsɪk(ə)n)
Forms: α. 3 secnen, 4–5 (9 dial.) seeken (5 -enyn), 5–6 seken (5 -ene), sekyn, 9 dial. seaken. β. 3 sikni, 4–5 sicnen, sijknen, sikynyn, 6 sycken, 6– sicken.
[f. sick a. + -en5. Cf. OIcel. sj{uacu}kna, MSw. siukna (Sw. sjukna).]
1. a. intr. To become affected with illness, to fall ill or sick. Also const. of or with.
| α c 1200 Ormin 4771 He warrþ all..Full hefiᵹlike secnedd. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings viii. 29 Ochozias..came doun to visyten Joram..in Jezrael, the whiche seekened there. c 1460 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 148 To knowe qwat schuld be-falle off hym that sekenyth in ony day off the mone. 1470–85 Malory Arthur Contents xxi. xii, How syr Launcelot began to sekene & after dyed. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 63 My hert sekened and began to waxe sore. 1530 Palsgr. 708/2, I sekyn, I waxe sycke. |
| β c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 293/187 Anon-riȝt he bigan to sikni; and þare riȝt adoun lay. 1382 Wyclif 1 Sam. xxx. 13, I bigan to sikynyn the thridde dai hens. ― Isaiah xxxviii. 1 In tho daȝes sicnede Ezechie vnto the deth. 1530 Palsgr. 708/2 My father syckened first upon saynte Bartylmewes evyn. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 162 At this tyme the king sickened, and [was] forced to kepe his bed. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxviii. 4 We sicken to shun sicknesse when we purge. 1657 Penit. Conf. xii. 331 Being in Normandy [he] sickned, of that disease whereof he died. 1705 J. Logan in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 35 The same night he sickened, as he thought of a surfeit of cherries, and in two days died. 1771 T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) IV. 113, I was told that Lord C. had sickened much after his bleeding. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 249 The people who were sickening very fast with the small-pox. 1847 Prescott Peru (1850) II. 327 Some sickened and sank down by the way. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 354 Soon after his restoration the Earl began to sicken. |
| transf. a 1822 Shelley ‘Music, when soft voices die’ 3 Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken. 1825 Gentl. Mag. XCV. i. 130 A small white insect, which caused..the trees to sicken and to bear no fruit that year. |
b. fig. or in
fig. contexts.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 368 Monie ancren..witeð so hore heale, þet þe gost unstrencðeð & secneð ine sunne. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. ii. 20 When Loue begins to sicken and decay. 1629 Milton Hymn Nativ. xiv, Speckl'd vanity Will sicken soon and die. 1706 Estcourt Fair Example ii. i, Why did she swear, unless it was to strengthen her Resolution, that began to sicken? 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 262 In these..The toiling pleasure sickens into pain. a 1827 Wordsw. Somnambulist 80 Day sickens round her, and the night Is empty of repose. 1861 Alexander Gospel of Jesus Christ 113 The appetite has sickened and so died. |
c. Used with complement.
| 1813 Byron Corsair i. i, Let him..Cling to his couch, and sicken years away. |
d. to sicken for: to be in the early stages of (a disease which is not yet manifest); to be ‘coming down’ with.
| 1883 F. Montgomery Blue Veil ii. vii. 218, I was sickening for the mumps. 1977 Sunday Times 16 Jan. 30/5 Amiss, sickening for the flu which prevented him fielding, got his bat caught in his pads. |
2. a. To feel faint with horror or nausea; to revolt or experience revulsion
at something.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 207 A most perfidious slaue..Whose nature sickens but to speak a truth. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. iii. x. 17 Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not Indure a further view. 1703 Pope Thebais 136 The day beheld, and sickning at the sight, Veil'd her fair glories in the shades of night. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 167 The young apostate sickens at the view. 1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. II. 157 Sickening with disgust, she rose abruptly, and pulled the bell. 1836 J. Gilbert Atonement vi. (1852) 165 How frightful is this portrait! the heart sickens as we contemplate it. 1868 Tennyson Lucretius 196, I hate, abhor, spit, sicken at him. |
b. To grow weary or tired
of a thing.
| 1782 F. Burney Cecilia i. v, Cecilia now began to sicken of her attempt. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. x. 96 Men sicken of their houses until at last they quit them. |
c. To pine with yearning; to long eagerly.
| 1802 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. xi. 351 Why is it that a Swiss sickens at hearing the famous Ranz des Vaches? 1815 Shelley Alastor 181 His strong heart sunk and sickened with excess Of love. 1897 Bartram People of Clopton 146 I'll catch the next train to Bitham, for I'm sickenin' to get back theer. |
3. To grow pale; to fade.
| 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Borders I. 250 The fronds sicken to a rich brown when touched by the first frosts. 1896 Idler Mar. 175 Expiring as a whole orb of moon sickens and disappears. |
4. Chem. Of mercury: To become ‘sick’.
| 1882 A. G. Locke Gold 21 The mercury employed for amalgamation..sickens or ‘flows’ when ground up with pyritous rocks. [See also sickening vbl. n.] |
5. a. trans. To affect with illness; to make sick.
| 1694 Crowne Regulus 1, A Ghost! a damp evaporates from the word Which sickens me to death. 1714 Purcell Cholick 175 To disengage those Insects from their Adherence to the Guts, to sicken, kill, and discharge them out of the Body. 1775 Romans Hist. Florida App. 53 I have heart of an instance of one of this kind [hog-fish] having sickened some people. 1843 R. J. Graves Clin. Med. xiv. 176 The first six doses seemed to sicken him a little, but he did not vomit until after the seventh dose. 1902 Buchan Watcher by the Threshold 90 His fetid breath sickened me. |
b. fig. or
transf.| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 82, I do know Kinsmen of mine..that haue By this, so sicken'd their Estates, that neuer They shall abound as formerly. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 312 The want of variety in the rotation would sicken the crops. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxii. 7 Which sicken'd every living bloom. 1876 Isa Craig Knox in Whittier Songs of Three Centuries 310 The pool was still; around its brim The alders sickened all the air. |
6. a. To give (one) a sickener; to make (one) sick or tired
of a thing.
| 1797 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 341 The Blenheim, passing between us and the Enemy, gave us a respite, and sickened the Dons. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xii. viii. ¶5 His keeper sickened him of the project. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxxvi, I..learned enough of what was going on, to give Jekyl a hint that sickened him of his commission. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. §1. 63 The long peace sickened men of this fresh outburst of bloodshed and violence. |
b. To affect with nausea, loathing, or disgust.
| 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. (Colburn) 21 The familiarity with which she treated her brother-in-law..so sickened Jane, that she ordinarily affected illness. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxi, Being already sickened by various disgusting exhibitions of the damsel's affectation. |
c. To render faint with fear or horror.
| 1821 Shelley Hellas Prol. 109 The storm Of faction, which like earthquake shakes and sickens The solid heart of enterprise. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xxii, The strained, almost ferocious expression of her keen eyes sickened his soul. 1883 F. M. Crawford Dr. Claudius xviii, If we look to the right or the left we must see that which sickens the sense of sight. |
Hence
ˈsickened ppl. a.| 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles ii. xxvi, Was not the life of Athole shed To soothe the tyrant's sicken'd bed? |