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[eyl-muh nt]
Noun

Definition

  1. A physical disorder or illness, especially of a minor or chronic nature.

Examples

"She is suffering from a rare ailment and several medicines have been ineffective."

"The doctor is quite good at curing common ailments."

Synonyms

achesicknessdiseasedisorderillnessmalady

Antonyms

health

Additional Notes

  • It is a two-part word ail + ment. Ail is from an old English word eglan meaning 'to trouble or plague.' -ment is a suffix from the Latin -mentum which is added to words to imply 'as a result of a certain action.'