Aching

How to spell aching

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce aching

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aching mean?

1. adjectiveSuffering from or marked by a continuous dull pain.
2. verbPresent participle of ache: experiencing a continuous dull pain.

Aching in a sentence

• adjective

  She soaked her aching feet after the long shift at the hospital.

• verb

  By the end of the conference his back was aching from the hard chairs.

• adjective

  A hot bath eased his aching shoulders after a day of moving boxes.

• verb

  Her wrists kept aching after hours of typing the report.

Where does aching come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows from the native Old English verb acan, meaning 'to hurt or suffer pain', and its related noun æce, the pain itself. It is a thoroughly Germanic word, with cousins in the older Dutch and Low German speech, rather than a classical borrowing. For centuries the verb was spelt 'ake' and pronounced with a hard k, while the noun was spelt 'ache' and pronounced like the letter h, 'aitch'. The modern spelling with 'ch' was largely fixed by Samuel Johnson in his eighteenth-century dictionary, who mistakenly believed the word came from the Greek akhos, meaning 'pain or distress'; that learned guess was wrong, but the 'ch' stuck for both noun and verb. When you add the ending the silent final 'e' is dropped, giving 'aching' rather than 'acheing', which is the small spelling trap worth remembering.

How the word is built

• ache (from Old English acan, to hurt)
• -ing (forming the present participle / adjective)