Ail is a verb meaning to experience pain or suffer; in a broader sense it can describe hardship or impairment. It is often used in medical or formal contexts but appears in everyday speech in phrases like “ail him” or “what ails you.” The word denotes ongoing distress rather than a momentary ache, and its inflected forms align with standard verb conjugation.
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"The patient began to ail after the surgery, feeling weakness creeping in."
"What ails you, friend? Are you catching a cold or something more serious?"
"Small issues can ail the team if they’re not addressed quickly."
"He does not want to ail the family with his complaints, so he stays quiet."
Ail comes from Middle English ailen, ailien, derived from Old French ailier, ailier meaning to trouble, torment, or trouble with pain. The root traces further to Latin ad- and -ilare? (note: etymology records vary slightly). The form ail entered English in the late medieval period as a verb meaning to trouble or afflict, aligning with related Germanic words meaning pain or injury. By Early Modern English, ail had settled into its current sense of experiencing pain or being unwell, often in reference to health or circumstances affecting well-being. Its usage broadened to describe non-physical troubles in metaphorical expressions, such as “what ails you?” over centuries. The word retains a formal, somewhat literary tone today, frequently appearing in medical, literary, or elder speech. First known uses appear in medical and narrative texts of the 14th-16th centuries, where ailments and afflictions were common themes. The semantic shift toward metaphorical problems (“what ails his spirit”) mirrors other English verbs that describe internal states as ailments, reinforcing a disciplined, sometimes clinical diction in 16th- to 19th-century prose. In modern usage, ail remains a compact, chiefly transitive verb (aIl someone) with a somewhat elevated register compared with everyday “feel sick.”
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "ail" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "ail" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "ail"
-ail sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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/eɪl/ in US, UK, and AU. Start with a long A as in 'name' followed by a light, quick 'l.' The mouth opens wide on /eɪ/ with the tongue high and front; finish with the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge for /l/. Stress is on the single-syllable word; there’s no secondary stress. Listen to native models and practice holding the vowel long enough before the final /l/ release.
Mistakes often involve mispronouncing the diphthong as a pure /e/ or ending with an indistinct /l/. Some say /ɪl/ or /eːl/ by shortening the vowel, which sounds off to natives. Another error is a heavy, vocalized /l/ after the vowel, producing a light “yuh-l” sound. To correct: maintain a clean /eɪ/ glide into a clear alveolar /l/ with a short, crisp release, and avoid adding extra vowel sounds after the /l/.
US/UK/AU share /eɪl/ as the core, but rhotic differences and vowel coloring appear. US vowels can be slightly flatter with a stronger cueing of the /l/ after the diphthong; UK often has a slightly shorter pre-l diphthong and crisper /l/ articulation; AU tends toward a broader, more centralized /eɪ/ and a lighter /l/, sometimes with a flatter end. The rhotic differences mainly matter in surrounding words, not the /eɪl/ core. Listen for how much the vowel glides and how lively the /l/ is in each accent.
Two main challenges: sustaining the diphthong /eɪ/ clearly within a single syllable and executing a precise alveolar /l/ without vocalizing into a vowel or adding extra vowel sounds. The tongue must glide up to the high front position for /eɪ/ and then snap to the alveolar ridge for /l/, which can be subtle for beginners. Also, some speakers front the tongue too much or too little, altering the sound. Focus on a smooth transition from the diphthong to the /l/ and keep the mouth compact at the end.
Think of the diphthong as a quick two-part journey: start with a bright /e/ sound that slides seamlessly into /ɪ/ before landing on /l/ gentle. Visualize a tiny glide from mouth wide for /eɪ/ to a precise tip-of-tongue /l/ placement. This helps keep the vowel quality distinct and prevents the /l/ from being colored by the preceding vowel. Practically, practice with minimal pairs like sail/save/seat to sharpen the glide and the following consonant.
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