adjective / adverb / noun
ill
IL/ɪl/
Bad or harmful in its condition or effect.
The woman feels ill and rests in bed with a tissue.
Etymology
Old Norse illr expressed general badness rather than sickness alone. The health sense probably developed through usage like the Norse idiom 'it is bad to me,' turning a bad condition into being unwell.
In context
one winter an elderly man fell ill and was bedridden and during this time crows began to congregate around his residence
More examples
- The medicine causes no ill effects.
- She speaks ill of her former boss.
- The report examines the social ills caused by poverty.
Forms
ill · worse · worst · ills
illness noun — A disease or period of poor health.