headache

English

Alternative forms

headach (obsolete)
head-ache (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English hevedeche, from Old English hēafodeċe, equivalent to head +‎ ache.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhɛdeɪk/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛdeɪk

Noun

headache (plural headaches)

(medicine) A pain or ache in the head.
I have a splitting headache after that party last night.

I advise you to take some painkillers for the headache, it's probably nothing serious.
- 1997, George Carlin, “SPORTS ROUNDUP”, in Brain Droppings‎^[1], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 68:
  Sometimes on television they tell you a product is "good for headaches." I don't want something that's good for headaches. I want something that's bad for headaches. And good for me.
(figurative) A nuisance or unpleasant problem.
The clumsy filing system has been a huge headache.

Synonyms

(physical pain): cephalalgia
(annoyance): bother, pain in the neck

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

pain or ache in the head

Albanian: dhembje koke
Arabic: صُدَاع m (ṣudāʕ)
Egyptian Arabic: صداع m (ṣudāʕ)

Hijazi Arabic: صُداع m (ṣudāʕ)
Armenian: գլխացավ (hy) (glxacʻav)
Assamese: মূৰৰ বিষ (muror bix)
Bashkir: баш ауыртыу (baş awırtıw)
Basque: buruko min
Belarusian: галаўны́ боль m (halaŭný bolʹ)
Breton: poan-benn (br) f
Bulgarian: главобо́лие (bg) n (glavobólie)
Burmese: ခေါင်းကိုက်ခြင်း (hkaung:kuikhkrang:)
Catalan: mal de cap (ca) m
Cebuano: sakit sa ulo
Chinese:
Cantonese: 頭痛 / 头痛 (tau⁴ tung³), 頭赤 / 头赤 (tau⁴ cek³)

Hakka: 頭那痛 / 头那痛 (thèu-nà-thung)

Hokkien: 頭疼 / 头疼 (zh-min-nan) (thâu-thiàⁿ), 頭殼疼 / 头壳疼 (thâu-khak-thiàⁿ)

Mandarin: 頭疼 / 头疼 (zh) (tóuténg) (verb; "to have a headache"), 頭痛 / 头痛 (zh) (tóutòng)
Czech: bolest hlavy f, cefalea f, cefalgie f
Danish: hovedpine (da) c
Dutch: hoofdpijn (nl) m, koppijn (nl) m (informal)
Elfdalian: sårskollan
Erzya: прясэредькс (pŕasëreďks)
Esperanto: kapdoloro
Estonian: peavalu
Faroese: høvuðpína f, høvuðverkur m
Finnish: päänsärky (fi)
French: mal de tête (fr) m
Galician: dor de cabeza f
Georgian: თავის ტკივილი (tavis ṭḳivili)
German: Kopfschmerzen (de) m pl, Kopfweh (de) n, Kopfschmerz (de) m
Alemannic German: Chopfwee f
Greek: πονοκέφαλος (el) m (ponokéfalos), κεφαλαλγία (el) (kefalalgía)
Gujarati: માથાનો દુખાવો (māthāno dukhāvo)
Hebrew: כאב ראש (he) m (ke'év rosh)
Hindi: सिरदर्द (hi) m (sirdard), सरदर्द (hi) m (sardard)
Hungarian: fejfájás (hu)
Icelandic: höfuðverkur (is) m, hausverkur (is) m (informal)
Ido: kapodoloro (io)
Ilocano: sakit ti ulo
Indonesian: pusing, sakit kepala
Interlingua: mal de testa, mal de capite
Irish: tinneas cinn m
Italian: mal di testa (it) m
Japanese: 頭痛 (ja) (ずつう, zutsū)
Kapampangan: sakit buntuk
Kazakh: бас ауруы (bas auruy)
Khmer: ជំងឺឈឺក្បាល (chumŋɨɨ cʰɨɨ kbaal)
Korean: 두통(頭痛) (ko) (dutong)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: سەرێشە (serêşe)

Northern Kurdish: serêşî (ku) f
Latin: capitis dolor m, dolor capitis m, cephalalgia f, cephalargia f
Latvian: galvassāpes m
Lithuanian: galvos skausmas m
Luxembourgish: Kappwéi m
Macedonian: главоболка (mk) f (glavobolka)
Malagasy: aretin'andoha
Malay: sakit kepala (ms)
Malayalam: തലവേദന (ml) (talavēdana)
Maltese: uġigħ ta’ ras
Manx: kione-ching m
Maori: mōngurunguru, ngāhoahoa, pāhoahoa, kotiuru
Marathi: डोकेदुखी f (ḍokedukhī)
Nepali: टाउको दुखाइ (ṭāuko dukhāi)
Norman: ma d'tête m (Jersey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hodepine (no) m or f

Nynorsk: hovudverk m
Occitan: mal de cap (oc) m
Okinawan: 頭病ん (ちぶるやん, chiburuyan)
Old English: hēafodeċe m
Oromo: mataa bowwuu
Ossetian: сӕрниз (særniz)
Ottoman Turkish: باش آغریسی (baş ağrısı), بیضه (beyza)
Palauan: bingsbedul
Persian: سردرد (fa) (sar-dard)
Polish: ból głowy m
Portuguese: dor de cabeça (pt) f, enxaqueca (pt) f
Quechua: uma nanay
Romanian: durere de cap
Russian: головна́я боль (ru) f (golovnája bolʹ)
S'gaw Karen: ခိၣ်ဆါ (khoh̀ hsah)
Santali: ᱵᱚᱦᱚᱜ ᱦᱟᱹᱥᱩ (bôhôk’ hăsu)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: главобоља f

Roman: glavobolja (sh) f
Sicilian: mali di testa m, mal' 'i testa m
Sinhalese: හිසරදය (hisaradaya)
Slovak: bolesť hlavy f
Slovene: glavobol (sl) f
Southern Altai: баштыҥ оорузы (baštïŋ ooruzï)
Spanish: dolor de cabeza (es) m, cefalea (es) f, jaqueca (es) f, dolor capital m, cefalalgia (es) f, neuralgia (es) f
Swahili: maumivu ya kichwa
Swedish: huvudvärk (sv) c
Tagalog: sakit ng ulo
Tahitian: hoa
Tamil: தலைவலி (ta) (talaivali)
Tatar: баш авырту (baş awırtu)
Telugu: తలనొప్పి (te) (talanoppi)
Thai: ปวดหัว (bpùuat-hǔua)
Turkish: baş ağrısı (tr)
Ukrainian: головни́й біль m (holovnýj bilʹ)
Urdu: سر درد m (sar dard, sir dard)
Vietnamese: chứng nhức đầu (症𤴵頭)
Volapük: kapadol
Welsh: cur pen (cy) f, pen tost (cy) m
Yakut: төбө ыарыыта (töbö ıarııta)
Yiddish: קאָפּווייטיק m (kopveytik)
Yucatec Maya: k'iinam
Zulu: ikhanda (zu) class 5/6, ubuhlungu bekhanda class 14

nuisance or unpleasant problem

Albanian: kokëçarje (sq) f
Armenian: գլխացավանք (hy) (glxacʻavankʻ)
Bashkir: мәшәҡәт (məşəqət)
Bulgarian: неприятност (bg) f (neprijatnost)
Catalan: maldecap (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 頭疼 / 头疼 (zh) (tóuténg) (verb; "to have a headache")
Danish: hovedpine (da) c
Dutch: hoofdbreker m, kopzorg (nl)
Finnish: päänsärky (fi), päänvaiva (fi)
French: casse-tête (fr) m
German: Kopfschmerzen (de) m pl
Greek: πονοκέφαλος (el) m (ponokéfalos), μπελάς (el) m (belás), βάσανο (el) n (vásano)
Hungarian: fejfájás (hu), gond (hu), bosszúság (hu), nyűg (hu)
Icelandic: höfuðverkur (is) m
Marathi: डोकेदुखी f (ḍokedukhī)
Polish: ból głowy m
Portuguese: dor de cabeça (pt) f, problemão m
Romanian: bătaie de cap f, pacoste (ro) f
Russian: головна́я боль (ru) f (golovnája bolʹ)
Spanish: dolor de cabeza (es) m, quebradero de cabeza (es) m, quebradero capital m
Swedish: huvudvärk (sv) c
Tagalog: sakit ng ulo
Tamil: தலைவலி (ta) (talaivali)