noun · 3 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈmaɪɡɹeɪn/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈmiːɡɹeɪn/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, US:mī'grān
Canada, US:/ˈmaɪɡɹeɪn/
rhymes with -aɪɡɹeɪn
CMU ARPABET:M AY1 G R EY2 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A severe, disabling headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia and visual disturbances.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
Examples
He had a headache so bad that he wished he was dead, but it was the sort of migraine that promised him he would continue to suffer but not die.
After consuming too much coffee every day for six weeks, she got severe migraines that would last up until 47 minutes after her first cup of coffee.
2013, Health Press Publishing, Natural Therapies and Prevention for Headaches and Migraines, unnumbered page, Migraine headaches are fortunately suffered by a relatively small percentage of people, but for those who do suffer, migraines can literally take over their life.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A neurological condition characterised by such headaches.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences
Examples
2006, Joshua W. Devine, Daily Migraine Prevention and Its Influence on Resource Utilization in the Military Health System, PhD Thesis, page 1, Migraine is a common and disabling neurological disorder with substantial variation in the frequency, severity, and duration of headaches (Goadsby, Lipton, & Ferrari, 2002).
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a severe recurring vascular headache; occurs more frequently in women than men
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: megrim, sick headache, hemicrania
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: headache, head ache, cephalalgia
History
Etymology
First appears c. 1425. A respelling (following French) of the late 14th century Middle English megrim, from the 13th century Old French migraigne, from Vulgar Latin pronunciation of Latin hemicrania (“a pain in one half of the head”), from Ancient Greek ἡμικρανία (hēmikranía), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-, half”) + κρανίον (kraníon, “the skull”) (whence also cranium), a calque of Egyptian gs-tp (“a headache”), from gs (“half”) + tp (“the head”), although the link between the Egyptian magical papyri and the Greek ἡμικρανία (hēmikranía) could be purely incidental. Cognate to megrim, hemicrania.
Across languages
Translations
54 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
skeelhoofpyn
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Arabic:
شَقِيقَة
(šaqīqa)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Arabic:
صُدَاع نِصْفِي
(ṣudāʕ niṣfī)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Belarusian:
мігрэ́нь
(mihrénʹ)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Bulgarian:
мигре́на
(migréna)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Catalan:
migranya
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Chinese Mandarin:
偏頭痛 /偏头痛
(piāntóutòng)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Chinese Mandarin:
偏頭疼 /偏头疼
(piāntóuténg)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Czech:
migréna
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Danish:
migræne
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Dutch:
migraine
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Egyptian:
Aa16:Z1-tp:Z1-F51
(gs-tp)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Estonian:
migreen
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Finnish:
migreeni
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
French:
migraine
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Galician:
xaqueca
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Georgian:
შაკიკი
(šaḳiḳi)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
German:
Migräne
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Greek:
ημικρανία
(imikranía)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Haryanvi:
आंधासीसी
(āndhāsīsī)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Hebrew:
מיגרנה
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Hungarian:
migrén
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Ido:
migreno
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Indonesian:
migrain
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Irish:
mígréin
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Italian:
emicrania
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Japanese:
偏頭痛
(henzutsū)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Korean:
편두통
(pyeondutong)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Latvian:
migrēna
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Lithuanian:
migrena
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Māori:
ānini pākaha
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Marathi:
अर्धशिशी
(ardhaśiśī)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Neapolitan:
mengrània
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Norwegian Bokmål:
migrene
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Norwegian Nynorsk:
migrene
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Persian:
میگرن
(migren)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Polish:
migrena
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Portuguese:
enxaqueca
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Portuguese:
hemicrania
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Romanian:
migrenă
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Russian:
мигре́нь
(migrénʹ)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Sicilian:
micragna
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Spanish:
migraña
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Spanish:
jaqueca
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Spanish:
hemicránea
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Spanish:
clavo
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Swahili:
kipandauso
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Swedish:
migrän
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Thai:
ไมเกรน
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Turkish:
migren
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Ukrainian:
мігре́нь
(mihrénʹ)
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
Welsh:
meigryn
— headache usually affecting only one side of the head
