Standard Lemma guide

ailment

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈeɪ̯lmənt/
  • [ˈeɪ̯lmənt] ~ [ˈeɪ̯lmn̩t]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EY1 L M AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Something which ails one; a disease; sickness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonym: complaint (contextually synonymous)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: complaint

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: complaint, ill

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disorder, upset

Narrower terms: pip, motion sickness, kinetosis

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English ail Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English ailment From ail + -ment.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Western Apache: kaa naghaa — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Arabic: مَرَض (maraḍ) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Arabic: اعتِلال — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Arabic: وَعكَة — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Central Bikol: hilang — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Bulgarian: болест (bolest) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Bulgarian: болка (bolka) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 疾病 (jíbìng) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Danish: lidelse — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Danish: sygdom — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Danish: svaghed — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Dutch: aandoening — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Esperanto: malsano — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Esperanto: malsaneto — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Esperanto: afekcio — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Finnish: sairaus — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Finnish: vaiva — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • French: maladie — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Galician: doenza — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Galician: enfermidade — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • German: Leiden — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Greek: ασθένεια (asthéneia) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Greek: αρρώστια (arróstia) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Greek: νόσος (nósos) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Greek: πάθηση (páthisi) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Ancient Greek: νόσος (nósos) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Ingrian: läsy — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Ingrian: tauti — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Ingrian: topi — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Irish: breoiteacht — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: disturbo — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: indisposizione — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: affezione — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: male — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: malattia — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: acciacco — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Italian: malanno — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Japanese: 病気 (byōki) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Kazakh: ауру (auru) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Kazakh: дерт (dert) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Kazakh: кесел (kesel) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Kazakh: науқас (nauqas) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Central Kurdish: دەرد (derd) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Latin: morbus — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Occitan: malautiá — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Polish: dolegliwość — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Portuguese: enfermidade — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Romanian: indispoziție — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Russian: боле́знь (boléznʹ) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Russian: неду́г (nedúg) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Russian: нездоро́вье (nezdoróvʹje) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Russian: недомога́ние (nedomogánije) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Scottish Gaelic: galar — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Scottish Gaelic: tinneas — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Scottish Gaelic: euslaint — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Scottish Gaelic: trioblaid — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Spanish: dolencia — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Spanish: enfermedad — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Spanish: achaque — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Spanish: alifafe — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Spanish: dolama — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Telugu: రోగము (rōgamu) — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Turkish: hastalık — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
  • Turkish: rahatsızlık — something which ails one; a disease; sickness
Real reading context

ailment in complete knowledge articles