Dolor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A feeling of deep sadness or grief ; an experience of physical pain or discomfort
2. A state of great sorrow or emotional distress ; the sensation caused by injury or illness
3. The condition of profound emotional suffering ; bodily suffering or ache caused by damage or disease

Etymology: Before it named a feeling, "dolor" was a plain physical word for hurt. The Latin "dolor" meant ache, pain or anguish, and it came from the verb "doleo", "to hurt, suffer physical pain", which could also mean to grieve or lament. The emotional sense of sorrow was already present in Latin alongside the bodily one, so the word never had to shift far from its origin. The ending "-or" is a Latin suffix that formed abstract nouns, so "dolor" is simply the noun made from the verb for suffering. The word reached English through Old French and Anglo-Norman, where forms such as "dolour" and "dulur" meant pain, and Middle English speakers used it for physical pain, painful disease, grief and contrition for sins alike. English also has a doublet of this word: "dole", meaning sorrow or grief, which came into the language by a more direct route. The two forms descend from the same Latin root, one through French and the other with a shorter history in English.

Synonyms: sorrow, grief

Antonyms: joy, happiness