Smerte

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A Danish or Norwegian noun meaning physical or emotional pain, suffering or ache
2. The Scandinavian word for pain, referring to bodily hurt or mental anguish in Danish and Norwegian
3. In Danish and Norwegian, a noun for the sensation of hurt, ache or suffering, whether physical or emotional

Etymology: In Middle English, "smerte" meant pain, sharp hurt, or grief, and it is the older English relative of the word "smart." Its Old English ancestor, "smeortan," meant to cause or feel a sting, and the same root gave modern English "smart" in its sense of a stinging pain. German "Schmerz," meaning pain or grief, descends from the same Germanic stock, so English and German share this word for suffering. Modern English did not keep "smerte" as its everyday word for pain. "Pain" came into English from Old French "peine," which traces back to Latin "poena," meaning punishment or penalty. The word's original sense survives in phrases like "on pain of death," where the meaning is penalty. Over the centuries "pain" displaced the native "smerte," which faded from use.

Synonyms: painful, sharp, stinging

Antonyms: painless