Ill

Part of speech: adjective, adverb

Pronunciation: /ɪl/

Definitions

1. Not feeling well or in poor health; sick or unwell
2. Experiencing a state of poor health or sickness
3. Experiencing health problems or feeling unwell ; having qualities that cause harm or are morally wrong

Etymology: Before it meant "not feeling well," "ill" was a bare adverb meaning "badly" or "with difficulty," and it still is in phrases like "ill-equipped" or "ill-advised." The word is a Norse import: Old Norse "illa" (adverb) and "illr" (adjective) meant "bad" or "badly," and the Scandinavian languages still carry these forms today, such as Swedish "illa" and Icelandic "illur." Its family reaches further back. Scholars connect it to the Latin "ulcus," meaning "sore," and to Greek "hélkos," meaning "wound, ulcer," all pointing to an older root sense of harm or injury. Old English had its own word for sickness, so the Norse term spread into English as a general word for bad or harmful, not specifically for illness. Its Scottish and northern English forms show this early Norse-influenced vocabulary, and the sense of "unwell" developed from the broader idea of something going badly for a person.

Synonyms: unwell, sick, infirm, ailing, poorly

Antonyms: healthy, well, fit, strong, robust