*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of pain

From Middle English peyne, payne, from Old French and Anglo-Norman peine, paine, from Latin poena (“punishment, pain”), from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “bloodmoney, weregild, fine, price paid, penalty”), from Proto-Hell

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To hurt; to put to bodily uneasiness or anguish; to afflict with uneasy sensations of any degree of intensity; to torment; to torture. · To render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve. · To inflict suffering upon as a penalty; to punish. · To hurt; to feel painful.

noun

An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt. · The pangs or sufferings of childbirth, caused by contractions of the uterus. · The condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress · An annoying person or thing.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English peyne, payne, from Old French and Anglo-Norman peine, paine, from Latin poena (“punishment, pain”), from Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “bloodmoney, weregild, fine, price paid, penalty”), from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂ (“payment”) (whence also Proto-Slavic *cěnà (“price”)). Doublet of peine. Compare Danish pine, Norwegian Bokmål pine, German Pein, Dutch pijn, Afrikaans pyn. See also pine (the verb). Partly displaced native Old English sār (whence Modern English sore).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 3 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kʷey-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "peyne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English peyne"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "xno",
        "3": "peine",
        "4": "peine, paine"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman peine, paine"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "poena",
        "4": "",
        "5": "punishment, pain"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin poena (“punishment, pain”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "ποινή",
        "4": "",
        "5": "bloodmoney, weregild, fine, price paid, penalty"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ποινή (poinḗ, “bloodmoney, weregild, fine, price paid, penalty”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grk-pro",
        "3": "*kʷoinā́"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Hellenic *kʷoinā́"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*kʷoynéh₂",
        "t": "payment"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kʷoynéh₂ (“payment”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sla-pro",
        "2": "*cěnà",
        "t": "price"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Slavic *cěnà (“price”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "peine"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of peine"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "pine"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish pine"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "pine"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål pine"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Pein"
      },
      "expansion": "German Pein"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "pijn"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch pijn"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "af",
        "2": "pyn"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans pyn"
    },
    {
      "name": "ncog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "sār"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sār"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "peyne",
      "peyne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "payne",
      "payne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "peine, paine",
      "peine#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "poena",
      "poena#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ποινή",
      "ποινή#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*kʷoinā́",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/kʷoinā́"
    ],
    [
      "*kʷoynéh₂",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷoynéh₂"
    ],
    [
      "*cěnà",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/cěna"
    ],
    [
      "peine",
      "peine#English"
    ],
    [
      "pine",
      "pine#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "pine",
      "pine#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "Pein",
      "Pein#German"
    ],
    [
      "pijn",
      "pijn#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "pyn",
      "pyn#Afrikaans"
    ],
    [
      "pine",
      "pine#English"
    ],
    [
      "sār",
      "sar#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "sore",
      "sore#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To hurt; to put to bodily uneasiness or anguish; to afflict with uneasy sensations of any degree of intensity; to torment; to torture.",
        "To render uneasy in mind; to disquiet; to distress; to grieve.",
        "To inflict suffering upon as a penalty; to punish.",
        "To hurt; to feel painful."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "obsolete",
        "dated",
        "intransitive"
      ],
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.",
        "The pangs or sufferings of childbirth, caused by contractions of the uterus.",
        "The condition or fact of suffering or anguish especially mental, as opposed to pleasure; torment; distress",
        "An annoying person or thing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "plural-normally"
      ],
      "recordId": "74c64164c13f4e5044091919393b9c09344b9f6c9d64c76b3cbe35b11290650e",
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 3,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Any of various breads stuffed with a filling.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English payn (“a kind of pie with a soft crust”), from Old French pain (“bread”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionpaynenm · a kind of pie with a soft crust
  • Derivation mentionpainfro
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "stuffed bread"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "payn",
        "t": "a kind of pie with a soft crust"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English payn (“a kind of pie with a soft crust”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "pain",
        "4": "",
        "5": "bread"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French pain (“bread”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "payn",
      "payn#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "pain",
      "pain#Old_French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Any of various breads stuffed with a filling."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for pain →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cGFpbg