pain
Definitions
An unpleasant physical sensation caused by injury or illness.
（身体的）疼痛。
Mental or emotional suffering; distress.
（精神或情感上的）痛苦，悲痛。
(informal) An annoying person or thing: he's a real pain.
（非正式）讨厌的人或事：他真烦人。
To cause distress or sorrow to someone (formal): it pains me to say this.
（正式）使痛苦，使难过：我很难过地说……
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Latin poena (penalty) through Old French peine. The leap is meaning, not spelling: the 'price you owe' for a wrong softened into the 'suffering you feel.' The old legal sense survives in 'on pain of death' (= under penalty of death).
Root pun still carries 33 more wordsWhy It Means This
Pain is one of the most disguised members of the punishment family. To the Latin mind, suffering and penalty were the same thing — poena meant both. When the word passed through French into English, it kept the 'suffering' half and quietly dropped the courtroom. Only fossil phrases like 'on pain of death' still show the original 'penalty' meaning.
Common Collocations
- 1.chronic pain慢性疼痛
- 2.relieve pain缓解疼痛
- 3.a pain in the neck眼中钉/烦人精
- 4.ease the pain减轻痛苦
- 5.no pain, no gain不劳无获
Example Sentences
- 1.
She felt a sharp pain in her lower back.
- 2.
The pain of losing a parent never fully goes away.
- 3.
Filling out these forms is such a pain.
- 4.
It pains me to see talent go to waste.
Synonym Comparison
- pain — the general word, physical or emotional
- ache — dull, lingering, localized pain (a headache, muscles ache)
- agony — extreme, overwhelming pain
- soreness — tenderness from overuse or strain
- suffering — prolonged endurance of pain or hardship