aguen.
/ˈeɪɡjuː/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌɡju/ 1. An acute or high fever; disease, or a disease, characterized by such fever, esp. when recurring periodically, spec. malaria. Also: a malarial paroxysm, or (esp. in later use) the initial stage of such a paroxysm, marked by an intense feeling of cold and shivering. Now chiefly historical.Frequently with distinguishing word indicating the periodicity of the fever, nature of the paroxysm, etc.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > acute
aguec1325
conflagration1681
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > fever > [noun] > ague
accessc1300
aguec1325
wedenonfa'c1500
exiesa1585
fen-shake1794
trembling aixies1808
(the) shivers1861
shaking1877
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 9118 He willede of an lampreye to ete..anonriȝt þer after into an ague [a1400 Trin. Cambr. augewe] he drou & deide.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xxiii. l. 84 Bules and bocches and brennyng Aguwes.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Ellesmere) (1872) l. 4150 Ye shul haue a ffeuere terciane Or an Agu, that may be youre bane.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 125 He [sc. Richard] was let blede for the agw whech he had, and that blod-last smet him in [a] paralisé, and aftir þat he deyed.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xlix Ye kynge was taken wt suche a Flixe, And therwith an Agu that he kept his bedde.
?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe f. xliii If it [sc. jaundis] appere in the vj. daye (that is a daye iudiciall or cretike of the ague).
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 103 In consumyng agues which ar called hectice.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse Ep. Ded. sig. ☞4v Hee that hath ben shooke with a fierce ague.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxvi. xxii. 289 In drink, it dissolveth ventosities, riddeth away-through colds, and namely the shiverings and shakings in cold agues.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) ii. ii. 113 That same Ague which hath made you leane. View more context for this quotation
1678 S. Butler Hudibras: Third Pt. iii. i. 38 'Tis but an Ague that's reverst, Whose hot fit takes the Patient first.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 101 An Ague very violent; the Fit held me seven Hours, cold Fit and hot, with faint Sweats after it.
1752 J. MacSparran Let. 20 Aug. in K. Miller et al. Irish Immigrants in Land of Canaan (2003) 61 The Climate subjects the Inhabitants, especially New-Comers, to vernal and autumnal Agues.
a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 791 Whan fevers burn, or agues freeze us, Rheumatics gnaw, or colic squeeze us.
1837 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. Feb. 371 We see it in teething; from abdominal irritation; in the cold stage of ague..; at the close of low fever with brain symptoms.
1859 D. Masson Life Milton I. 142 Confined to College by an attack of ague (then the prevalent disease of the fenny Cambridge district).
1913 Daily News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 29 Mar. 9 Many of them were shivering with cold as though afflicted with the ague and some of them actually seemed to be pinched with hunger.
1964 Trans. & Papers (Inst. Brit. Geographers) No. 34. 177 Ague or malarial fever and elflock (plica polonica or Polish plait, a diseased matting of the hair) were widespread.
2002 J. Thompson Wide Blue Yonder iv. 273 You weren't supposed to go to India during the monsoons... People caught agues and fevers and funguses.
2. A state or bout of distress, fear, or other strong emotion; a fit or spell of shaking or shivering.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > shaking or trembling
ague fit1528
ague1532
grooving1637
the tremblesa1803
shivering fit1816
trepidation1822
shake1838
trembling fit1856
fibrillation1882
intention tremor1887
rest tremor1890
shivering attack1899
flutter1910
1532 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 411 (MED) I was ful thursty in languisshyng; Myn ague was so feruent in his hete.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet sig. Bv And saies he will ergo Martin into an ague.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice i. i. 23 My wind cooling my broth, would blow me to an ague . View more context for this quotation
1640 W. Habington Hist. Edward IV (1648) 73 The Duke was distemperd with such an ague of discurtesie.
1703 Particular Acct. Several Earthquakes 4 Since the 16th, they have Felt no more of these Agues of the Earth.
1753 T. Gray Long Story in Six Poems 21 But soon his rhetorick forsook him..A sudden fit of ague shook him.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby ii. xi. 69 For not to rank nor sex confined Is this vain ague of the mind.
1866 J. Greenwood Reminisc. Raven v. 85 There they stood, shivering in an ague of terror.
1900 S. J. Weyman Story Francis Cludde (new ed.) i. 8 All the threats and misgivings, the fevers and agues, of that afternoon,..became in a few hours as immaterial as the dew.
1941 M. Moore Let. 23 May in Sel. Lett. (1997) 411 It was all so nice,—despite premonitory agues of unconfidence.
2009 R. Beach Going Some xvii. 99 Now the starter was shaking in an ague of fury.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.† ague sore n. Obsolete
ague fit n.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > shaking or trembling
ague fit1528
ague1532
grooving1637
the tremblesa1803
shivering fit1816
trepidation1822
shake1838
trembling fit1856
fibrillation1882
intention tremor1887
rest tremor1890
shivering attack1899
flutter1910
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. e.iii The cause may be as Galen sayth, that slepe is vnholsome in the ague fyt.
1638 R. Younge Drunkard's Char. 713 These gather into the Alehouse, as the humours doe into the stomack, against an Ague-fit.
1719 Two Sosias 11 He remarks—that Purging never fails of making the Ague-fit return.
1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. xv. 350 Cromwell..had an ague-fit from anxiety.
1905 E. Wharton House of Mirth i. xiii. 240 She shook in the ague-fit of fear that was coming upon her!
1997 M. J. Dobson Contours Death & Dis. Early Mod. Eng. (2002) i. 22 Trying to find an association between the timing of his ague fits and astrological circumstances.
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1608 Closet for Ladies & Gentlewomen 114 Take a Bryome roote, and..then boile it and straine it keepe it for your vse, for this is good to annoynt any Ague sore, or any other swelling.
1745 S. Mason Nature Intermitting Fever & Ague 37 To have frequent Complaints, of what the Common People call Ague-Sores.
1852 Water Cure Jrnl. 14 91/1 (From the inception of this ague sore, so called in this vicinity,) I did not suffer pain enough after the third application of water..to cause an infant to shed tears one minute.
1890 J. M. Hoyt in Michigan Hist. Coll. 14 429 Sometimes when the ague left a person an eruption usually called ague sores would frequently break out on the lips.
b. Instrumental.
ague-shaken adj.
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1612 I. M. tr. Most Famous Hist. Meruine 71 The chamberlain..was piteously ague shaken.
c1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) v. 2158 To help an ague-shaken bodie, cure A fever, dropsie, gout, or cicature.
1823 E. James Acct. Exped. Pittsburgh to Rocky Mountains III. 186 A temperature and state of weather as little grateful to an ague-shaken invalid as any.
1903 Temple Bar July 39 Their hatchet faces and ague-shaken frames had fairly scared their compatriot out of his wits.
1980 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 29 Mar. ‘666’ placards attached to trees advertised a patent quinine cure to its sallow and ague-shaken natives.
ague-struck adj.
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1691 J. Harris Mistakes ii. ii. 23 How wou'd the damn'd in Hell be ague-struck?
1840 Calhoun County (Marshall, Mich.) Patriot 25 Sept. 1/5 Whenever the slightest breath of air swept over the dreary waste, even the hardy Swede shivered like an ague-struck girl.
1929 J. D. Walshe Lanterns of Blue 22 Billows of terror rise to whelm my soul, As ague-struck I tremble every joint.
C2. † ague-shake v. Obsolete transitive to cause (a person) to shake as though suffering from ague.Apparently an isolated use.† ague shell n. Obsolete a fossil oyster of the genus Gryphaea (presumably so named in allusion to the use of powdered oyster shell as a remedy for ague).† ague spell n. Obsolete rare a charm believed to cure or prevent ague.
ague drop n. now historical a liquid medicinal preparation containing arsenic, used as a remedy for ague; usually in plural.
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1720 Weekly Jrnl. 25 June 494/1 (heading) Ague Drops.
1819 R. Thomas Mod. Pract. Physic (ed. 6) 18 Arsenic has long been administered by empirics with the greatest success in intermittents, under the appellation of the ague-drop.
1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 26 Nov. 1472/1 ‘Tasteless Ague-drops’ and ‘Tasteless Fever-drops’ are separately scheduled in the Medicine-Stamp Act of 1812.
2010 J. C. Whorton Arsenic Cent. 233 In..1783, some two years after the occasional employment of the Ague Drops [at the Staffordshire Infirmary] began, Fowler was told by the apothecary to the Infirmary that there were chemical reasons to suspect the remedy contained arsenic.
ague fen n. now rare a marshy area considered likely to cause ague in its inhabitants.
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1864 Times 15 Oct. 12/1 Many..imagine it still to be a land of marshy ague fens and unwholesome swamps.
1901 G. Meredith Reading of Life 76 A toady cave beside an ague fen.
ague-grass n. North American (now rare) a plant native to eastern and southern North America, Aletris farinosa (family Nartheciaceae), formerly used in the treatment of malaria and gastric disorders; also called colic-root, stargrass.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Liliaceae family or plants > [noun] > other plants
one-blade1578
one-leaf1578
spiderwort1597
star of Bethlehem1629
ague-grass1687
unifoil1688
redroot1709
bellwort1785
eucomisc1804
uvularia1836
paintroot1853
twisted stalk1856
Barbados onion1866
fly-poison1866
shepherd's joy1884
onion weed1909
mondo1956
1687 J. Clayton Let. in Philos. Trans. 1739–40 (Royal Soc.) (1742) 41 158 Some call it Ague-grass, others Ague-root, others Star-grass.
1828 C. S. Rafinesque Med. Flora U.S. I. 37 Aletris Farinosa... Star-Grass, Blazing Star, Alo-root, Bitter Grass, Unicorn Root, Ague Root, Ague Grass, Star-root, Devil's-bit.
1931 W. N. Clute Common Names Plants 121 Among other plants reputed to be a cure for malaria were the ague-root or ague-grass.
ague-proof adj. resistant to ague; also figurative.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare King Lear (1623) iv. v. 105 I am not Agu-proofe [1608 argue-proofe].
1795 C. Este Journ. Flanders, Brabant, & Germany 336 Manheim would be no bad residence, to those who can be content with a level country, if they..are ague proof.
1885 E. W. Nelson in Ann. Rep. Board of Regents of Smithsonian Inst. 1884 22 Whoever ventures there to do any extended work must be ague-proof.
1999 Scotsman 10 Nov. 39/2 ‘At the end of the day we are humans not robots’, he said,..as if sensing an entire nation's surprise at the proof he is not ague-proof after all.
ague root n. North American any of several plants whose roots or rhizomes are used medicinally; spec. = ague-grass n.The identity of the plant referred to in quot. 1676 is uncertain.
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1676 T. Glover Acct. Virginia in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 630 The English call it the Fever and Ague-root.
1687 J. Clayton Let. in Philos. Trans. 1739–40 (Royal Soc.) (1742) 41 158 [In Virginia] there is another Root of the Species of Hyacinths, the Leaves whereof are grass-like..and spread like a Star upon the Ground... Some call it Ague-grass, others Ague-root, others Star-grass.
1848 N.Y. Jrnl. Med. 10 24 Aletris Farinosa..(Star Grass, Colic Root, Blazing Star, Ague Root, etc.). The root contains a very bitter principle.
1922 T. L. Stedman Pract. Med. Dict. (U.S. ed. 7) 30/2 The dried rhizome and roots of Aletris farinosa, ague-root.
2005 A. J. Drew Wiccan Formulary & Herbal ix. 191 Warm a mixture of 1 part ground Ague Root, 1 part water, and 2 parts red wine vinegar.
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the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > cause to shudder
agruea1250
quakea1616
ague1636
shudder1639
ague-shake1653
1653 J. Shirley Cvpid & Death sig. B2v How will she Ague-shake him with a frown!
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the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of
astroite1610
belemnite1646
mussel-stone1660
scallop-stone1668
trochite1676
conchite1677
ophiomorphite1677
pectinite1677
worm-stone1677
musculite1681
serpent-stone1681
sugar-plum1681
glossopetraa1684
ague shell1708
forket1708
mytilite1727
grit1748
phytolithus1761
fairy beads1767
fairy fingers1780
fairy arrow1794
gryphite1794
ram's horn1797
hysterolite1799
tubulite1799
thunder-pick1801
celleporite1808
ceraunite1814
seraph1822
serpulite1828
coprolite1829
subfossil1831
pencil1843
trigonellite1845
buccinite1852
rudist1855
guide fossil1867
witch's cradle1867
coccolith1868
fairy cheeses1869
discolith1871
Portland screw1871
spiniferite1872
cyatholith1875
cryptozoon1883
sabellite1889
palaeospecies1895
homoeomorph1898
rudistid1900
megafossil1932
scolecodont1933
macrofossil1937
hystrichosphere1955
palynomorph1961
acritarch1963
molecular fossil1965
mitrate1967
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Asiphonida > family Ostreidae > fossil of genus Gryphoea
ague shell1708
hawk's-bill1708
boat oyster1816
1708 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 26 78 Gryphites, the Hawk's-Bill, or Ague-shell.
1800 J. Nichols Hist. & Antiq. County of Leicester III. i. 84/2 A common and well-known bivalve fossil, called Gryphites... They are known in Leicestershire under the name of Crow Stones, and in Yorkshire under that of Ague Shell.
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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > occult medicine > amulet against disease or to aid healing > specific
plague cake1603
wresting thread1616
ague spell1714
touched gold1715
1714 J. Gay Shepherd's Week vi. 58 His pills, his balsoms, and his Ague spells.
agueweed n. North American any of several plants used (or formerly used) medicinally, esp. in the treatment of fever; spec. (a) boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum; (b) any of several dwarf gentians, esp. Gentianella quinquefolia.
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1806 B. M'Mahon Amer. Gardener's Cal. 583 Plants cultivated for medicinal purposes, &c. Ague-weed, Thoroughwort..Eupatorium perfoliatum.
1869 F. P. Porcher Resources Southern Fields & Forests (new ed.) 556 Indian quinine; Ague weed, (Gentiana quinqueflora).
1907 Techn. World Mag. May 267/1 Boneset..brings up memories of drastic childhood doses. People call the weed feverwort, sweating plant, teasel and ague weed.
1967 H. Borland Hill Country Harvest 298 Close by, in the edge of the thicker woods, we found a number of lesser gentians commonly called ague-weed.
2008 P. Bernhardt Gods & Goddesses in Garden iii. 65 Some gentians are still known as agueweeds, suggesting they were once doomed to an ineffective career fighting fevers.
Derivatives
ˈague-like adj.
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1593 H. Lok Sundry Christian Passions To Rdr. sig. Av The state of a regenerate soule..sometimes (Ague-like) shiuering with cold dispaire.
1656 J. Collop Poesis Rediviva 53 By monsters, Ague-like they'r frighted.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. iii. 12 An ague-like lover.
1848 G. Lippard Paul Ardenheim ii. i. 226 He was seized with an ague-like tremor; the knife fell from his hand.
1904 Canada Lancet Dec. 302 Persistent jaundice with periodical pains and ague-like seizures.
2008 L. McM. Bujold Sharing Knife: Passage iv. 66 He took several grateful gulps, only spilling a little in his ague-like shakes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
aguev.
/ˈeɪɡjuː/, U.S. /ˈeɪˌɡju/ Now somewhat archaic.
transitive. To affect with or as if with ague; to cause to shake or shiver. Frequently in passive with with.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > causing physical symptoms > cause physical symptoms [verb (transitive)] > cause to shudder
agruea1250
quakea1616
ague1636
shudder1639
ague-shake1653
1636 T. Heywood Challenge for Beautie iv. sig. F3v A danger..whose aspect Would ague such, as should but heare it told.
1796 F. Burney Camilla III. v. vi. 81 I am agued with trepidation!
a1797 M. Wollstonecraft Wrongs of Woman in Mem. & Posthumous Wks. (1798) II. iii. 38 Endless forests, whose baleful damps agued their limbs.
a1820 J. R. Drake Bronx in Culprit Fay (1835) 77 Did I leave thy loveliness, to stand..agued with icy kindness?
1847 C. Dickens in J. Forster Life C. Dickens (1873) II. xvii. 346 The time of worrit as I had with Mrs Colliber..has agued me.
1903 J. H. Yoxall Alain Tanger's Wife xxxi. 250 Her whole frail frame was agued with dread.
1961 R. A. W. Hughes Fox in Attic ii. xxi. 205 He was agued with cold so that he could hardly speak.
2007 York Press (Nexis) 7 Aug. The arthritis that plagued and agued him for 26 years vanished.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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