# migraine

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmaɪɡɹeɪn/ · frequency rank #18,893

## Definitions
1. A severe, disabling headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia and visual disturbances.
2. A neurological condition characterised by such headaches.

## Etymology
First appears c. 1425. A respelling (following French) of the late 14th century Middle English megrim, from the 13th century Old French migraigne, from Vulgar Latin pronunciation of Latin hemicrania (“a pain in one half of the head”), from Ancient Greek ἡμικρανία (hēmikranía), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-, half”) + κρανίον (kraníon, “the skull”) (whence also cranium), a calque of Egyptian gs-tp (“a headache”), from gs (“half”) + tp (“the head”), although the link between the Egyptian magical papyri and the Greek ἡμικρανία (hēmikranía) could be purely incidental. Cognate to megrim, hemicrania.

## Easily confused with
- **migrant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/migraine-vs-migrant)
- **migrate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/migraine-vs-migrate)
- **moraine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/migraine-vs-moraine)

## Common misspellings (11)
`imgraine`, `mgiraine`, `migarine`, `miggraine`, `migraien`, `migrainne`, `migranie`, `migriane`, `migrraine`, `mirgaine`, `mmigraine`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/migraine