Feeling sad and lonely because you miss your home and the people you love there.
A compound word combining 'home' and 'sick,' created in the 17th century. The word 'Heimweh' (homesickness) was actually first used in Swiss German and Swiss French to describe the emotional illness of Swiss mercenaries far from the Alps.
Scientists have found that homesickness actually activates the same parts of your brain as physical pain—it's a real biological response, not just sadness! Swiss doctors in the 1600s thought homesickness was so serious it could be fatal for soldiers.
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