Sickness Meaning
/ˈsɪknɪs/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness.
nounThe quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness; an illness.
Sentence Examples
There has been a lot of sickness in my family this winter.
Health is not valued until sickness comes.
It took her four months to recover from her sickness.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden spreading ____ caused many workers to stay home from the factory.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The unexpected ____ spread quickly through the small village, forcing the local clinic to work overtime.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sikness, from Old English sēocnes. By surface analysis, sick + -ness.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I do lament the sickness of the king."
— c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
"18th century, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Miss Blount
Trust not too much your now resistless charms; Those, age or sickness soon or late disarms."
—
"Sickness is a dangerous indulgence at my time of life."
— 23 March 1816, Jane Austen, a letter:
"We can now return to the question of how we treat the phenomenon of dative sickness (the possibility of substituting dative in place of accusative on the experiencer nominal) in Icelandic."
— 1997, Michael B. Smith, “§ 4.7”, in Quirky Case in Icelandic:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden spreading ____ caused many workers to stay home from the factory.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The unexpected ____ spread quickly through the small village, forcing the local clinic to work overtime.