Quease

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To experience a sensation of sickness or discomfort in the stomach
2. To feel queasy or nauseated, as though about to vomit
3. To suffer from a disturbed stomach or squeamish feeling

Etymology: "Quease" is an older spelling of "queasy," and its origin is uncertain. Medieval English speakers used it for a troubled conscience or a general uneasiness, and the sense of an unsettled stomach came later. One proposed source is Old Norse "kveisa," meaning a festering sore or boil, which would fit the idea of something painful and unsettled beneath the surface. The link is not proven. Other suggestions have been made, but the evidence is thin, so dictionaries generally list the origin as unknown. The most notable part of the story is the shift from mental disquiet to physical nausea, with the same inner disturbance moving from conscience to stomach.