Meanings
ake1
present singular third person akes · participle present aking · past aked · past oke · participle past aked · participle past oke · participle past aken
- obsoleteObsolete spelling of ache.
... for let our finger ake, / And it endues our other heathfull members — Othello (Quarto 1), Shakespeare, 1622
2 more examples
And that thing made of ſound and ſhovv / VVhich mortals have miſnamed A Beau, / (But in the language of the ſky / Is call'd a tvvolegg'd butterfly) / VVill make your very heartſtrings ake / VVith loud and everlaſting clack, […]
1766, James Beattie, “[Miscellany Poems.] The Wolf and Shepherds, a Fable.”, in Poems on Several Subjects. […], new edition, London: […] W. Johnston, […], →OCLC, stanza 3, pages 113–114instead he went with the rogues to supper in an arbour, though it made his heart "ake" to listen to their mad talk.
1909, Henry C. Shelley, Inns and Taverns of Old London, text edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2004
plural akes
- obsoleteObsolete spelling of ache.
The ake of months of a growing firenlust became a rising queem til at last there was the burst of loosing that almost made his knees buckle.
2015, LT Wolf, The World King (fiction), →ISBN
ake2
plural akes
- CornwallobsoleteThe groove made in a stone forming part of a killock.
Returning with the timber portions of his anchor, to the stone, he would assemble all together […] The ake would be the slightly hollowed part of the stone that fitted closely to the sides […]
1913, Leonard George Carr Laughton, Roger Charles Anderson, William Gordon Perrin, The Mariner's Mirror (volume 3, page 300)
ake3
- New Zealandnot comparableforever
The answer given was : — " Friends, this is the reply of the Maori : we shall fight on ake, ake, ake, for ever, for ever, for ever."
1882, B. Francis, Isles of the Pacific: Or, Sketches from the South Seas, page 783 more examples
That was the time when the great wish grew in the heart of Maui, the wish to conquer his powerful enemy Hine-nui-te-po, that Night might die and man may live for ever: ake, ake, ake!—yes, it was his great wish.
1907, Wilhelm Dittmer, Te Tohunga: The Ancient Legends and Traditions of the Maoris"Ake, ake, ake," said Von Tempsky, weary over the camp-fire. "Has there been anything like it since the days of the old Greeks? What madness makes you kill such men when you may want them to fight for you some day?"
1938, Edith J. Lyttleton, G. B. Lancaster, Promenade, page 383One day Maui visited his parents to tell them of his latest plan — he wished to conquer his powerful enemy Hine-nui-te-po so that the Night might die and man would live forever: ake, ake, ake!
1997, Queenie Rikihana, Paki Waitara: Myths & Legends of the Māori, →ISBN, page 33
Ake4
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA Nigerian Plateau language.
Origin
ake · verb, noun
- Proto-Germanic*akaną“to ache”
- Proto-West Germanic*akan
- Old Englishacan“to ache”
- Middle Englishaken
- Englishake
From Middle English aken, from Old English acan (“to ache”), from Proto-West Germanic *akan, from Proto-Germanic *akaną (“to ache”). More at ache.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →ake · adverb
- Māoriake
- Māoriake
- Englishake
Borrowed from Māori ake.
More words from Māori
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ake
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
ake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ake
“ake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ake. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ake,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ake.
Source: ake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.