Megrim and "migraine" share a meaning and an etymology. Latin and Greek speakers afflicted with a pain in one side of the head called their ailment "hemicrania" or "hēmikrania," from the Greek terms hēmi-, meaning "half," and kranion, meaning "cranium." French-speaking sufferers used "migraine," a modification of "hemicrania," for the same condition. English speakers borrowed "migraine" from French - twice. First, they modified the French term to form "migreime," which in turn gave rise to "megrim" in the 15th century. Later, in the 18th century, they returned to French and borrowed "migraine" again, this time retaining its French spelling. Nowadays, "megrim" and "migraine" can still be used interchangeably, but "megrim" has other meanings as well.
having no sense of purpose, he was often at the mercy of the strange megrims that sprang into his head
Recent Examples on the WebBy 1781, the French word migraine entered the English language as the accepted medical term, replacing older words such as megrim .—Sibbie O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 10 June 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'megrim.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English migreime, from Middle French migraine — more at migraine
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