A persistent deep aching pain in the bones, especially the kind caused by certain illnesses like malaria or syphilis.
From Old English 'ban' (bone) + 'ache' (pain). The compound reflects folk medical terminology where internal pain was attributed to the bones themselves rather than other causes.
Before modern medicine, 'boneache' was a terrifying diagnosis because it usually signaled serious systemic disease—sailors especially dreaded it because it was a classic symptom of tropical diseases contracted during voyages.
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