English
ache
Ache may come from Middle English aken ‘to ache, to hurt’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English ache
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “By'r lakin, I can goe no further, Sir, /…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500akenWiktionary, English ache‘to ache, to hurt’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611acheWiktionary, English ache. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “By'r lakin, I can goe no further, Sir, /…”
The story
The verb was originally strong, conjugating for tense like take. I ake, I oke, I have aken), but gradually became weak during Middle English; the noun was originally pronounced as /eɪt͡ʃ/ as spelled (compare breach, from break). Historically the verb was spelled ake, and the noun ache (even after the form /eɪk/ started to become common for the noun; compare again break which is now also a noun). The verb came to be spelled like the noun when lexicographer Samuel Johnson mistakenly assumed that it derived from Ancient Greek ἄχος (ákhos, “pain”) due to the similarity in form and meaning of the two words.
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *akaną ‘to ache’
through Middle English aken ‘to ache, to hurt’
Today it means
verb To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ache”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Middle English aken / ache