Ach or Āche1, n.
(ătch), n. [Fr. ache, from Lat. apium, parsley, from apis, bee, because loved by bees.] A kind of parsley. [Obs.] Holland.
3 entries under this word
Ach
Āche2, v. i.
(āk), v. i. [imp. & p. p. ACHED; p. pr. & vb. n. ACHING.] [A-S. acan, Gr. ἀχεῖν, to ache or be in pain. See infra.] To suffer pain; to have, or be in, pain, or in continued pain; to be distressed. “I can go no further, sir; my old bones ache.” Shak.
Visions of glory, spare my aching sight. Gray.
Ache3, n.
(āk), n. [A-S. ace, æce, ece; Gr. ἄχος, pain; Skr. āka, pain, affliction.] Continued pain, in opposition to sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain. “Such an ache in my bones.” Shak.
☞ This word was formerly pronounced ake, as now. This is proved by the spelling ake, which is of frequent occurrence in old books. But the ch often had its common English sound, as in the following couplet:—
Or Gellia wore a velvet mastic patch Upon her temples when no tooth did ache. Bp. Hall.
In the plural, the word was used as a dissyllable, and that too as recently as the time of Butler and Swift. The examples are very numerous:—
Sharp ach-es in thick troops it sends, And pain, which like a rack the nerves extends. Oldham.
Can by their pains and ach-es find All turns and changes of the wind. Hudibras.
The final e is sometimes improperly omitted in the spelling.