Agues

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used to describe recurring fevers or illnesses characterized by intermittent symptoms, particularly chills and sweats
2. Referring to a condition marked by bouts of fever associated with various infectious diseases or health disorders
3. Denoting a medical state often linked with other ailments, showcasing varying intensity and frequency of fever episodes

Etymology: "Agues" is the third-person singular form of "ague", so the word itself is a verb-style inflection here, though in practice "ague" is the noun that matters. The noun began as a phrase: Middle French had "fievre aguë", meaning "acute fever", a fever that comes on sharply and runs a short, intense course. Late Latin had the matching "febris acuta", built from "acutus", "sharp" or "acute", and "febris", "fever". Over time the phrase shrank to its adjective, "aguë", and English borrowed that as "ague" in Middle English. The word is a doublet of "acute", meaning the two came down from the same Latin root but reached English by different routes, so they look and sound related while carrying different senses. Early English used "ague" for any fever with chills in cycles, which is why the modern sense of recurring bouts of fever still fits the word so well.

Synonyms: fevers, chills, shivers