migraine (n.)

late 14c., migrane, "severe headache, especially on one side of the head," from Old French migraine, migraigne (13c.), from the vulgar pronunciation of Late Latin hemicrania "pain in one side of the head, headache," from Greek hēmikrania, from hēmi- "half" + kranion "skull" (see cranium).

The corrupt form megrim was common from 15c. on and is the principle entry for the word in Century Dictionary (1895), but it seems to be now obsolete or archaic even in its secondary senses of "depression; low spirits" and "a whim or fancy." Related: Migrainous.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to migraine

cranium (n.)

the skull of a human being," "early 15c., craneum, from Medieval Latin cranium "skull," from Greek kranion "skull, upper part of the head," related to kara (poetic kras) "head," from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn; head." Strictly, the "brain-box," the bony case which encloses the brain. Englished by Sir Thomas Browne as crany.

megrim

see migraine.

*ker- (1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "horn; head," with derivatives referring to horned animals, horn-shaped objects, and projecting parts.

It forms all or part of: alpenhorn; Capricorn; carat; carotid; carrot; carotene; cerato-; cerebellum; cerebral; cerebrum; cervical; cervix; charivari; cheer; chelicerae; corn (n.2) "hardening of the skin;" cornea; corner; cornet; cornucopia; cranium; flugelhorn; hart; hartebeest; horn; hornbeam; hornblende; hornet; keratin; kerato-; migraine; monoceros; reindeer; rhinoceros; saveloy; serval; triceratops; unicorn.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit srngam "horn;" Persian sar "head," Avestan sarah- "head;" Greek karnon "horn," koryne "club, mace," koryphe "head;" Latin cornu "horn," cervus "deer;" Old English horn "horn of an animal;" Welsh carw "deer."

Trends of migraine

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

balance

early 13c., "scales, apparatus for weighing by comparison of mass," from Old French balance "balance, scales for weighing" (12c.), also in figurative sense; from Medieval Latin bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx, from Latin (libra) bilanx "(scale) having two pans," possibly from La

play

Middle English pleien, from Old English plegan, plegian "move lightly and quickly, occupy or busy oneself, amuse oneself; engage in active exercise; frolic; engage in children's play; make sport of, mock; perform music." It is from Proto-West Germanic *plegōjanan "occupy oneself

fast

Old English fæst "firmly fixed, steadfast, constant; secure; enclosed, watertight; strong, fortified," probably from Proto-Germanic *fastu- "firm, fast" (source also of Old Frisian fest, Old Norse fastr, Dutch vast, German fest), from PIE root *past- "firm, solid" (source of Sans

patriotism

"love of one's country; the passion which moves a person to serve his country, either in defending it or in protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions," 1726, from patriot + -ism. The patriotic quip My country, right or wrong traces to a toast given by U.S. W

dialogue

c. 1200, "literary work consisting of a conversation between two or more persons," from Old French dialoge and directly from Latin dialogus, from Greek dialogos "conversation, dialogue," related to dialogesthai "converse," from dia "across, between" (see dia-) + legein "to speak"

renege

1540s, renegue, "deny, renounce, abandon" (archaic), from Medieval Latin renegare, from Latin re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + negare "to refuse" (from PIE root *ne- "not"). The meaning "change one's mind, go back on (one's word or promise)" is by 1784. OED iden

gang

from Old English gang "a going, journey, way, passage," and Old Norse gangr "a group of men, a set," both from Proto-Germanic *gangaz (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Danish, Dutch, Old High German, German gang, Old Norse gangr, Gothic gagg "act of going"), of uncertain or

pretend

late 14c., pretenden, "to profess, put forward as a statement or assertion, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, spread before, put forward; put forward as an excuse, allege," f

strategy

1810, "the art of a general, the science of war," from French stratégie (16c.) and directly from Latinized form of Greek stratēgia "office or command of a general," from stratēgos "general, commander of an army," also the title of various civil officials and magistrates, from str

spirit

mid-13c., "life, the animating or vital principle in man and animals," from Anglo-French spirit, Old French espirit "spirit, soul" (12c., Modern French esprit) and directly from Latin spiritus "a breathing (of respiration, also of the wind), breath;" also "breath of a god," hence

Share migraine

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine">Etymology of migraine by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of migraine. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of migraine,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of migraine.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of migraine.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/migraine (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on January 15, 2019

Remove ads >

Trending words

1. philistine
2. aurora
3. media
4. boreal
5. borealis
6. heart
7. hospital
8. sand
9. mother
10. blue

Dictionary entries near migraine

might

mightily

mightiness

mighty

mignon

migraine

migrant

migrate

migration

migrational

migratory