different between goad vs vex

English

Etymology

From Middle English gode, from Old English g?d (“goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gaid? (compare Old Norse gedda (“pike (fish)”), Lombardic gaida (“spear”)), from Proto-Indo-European *??ey- (compare Old Irish gath (“spear”), Sanskrit ??????? (hinvati), ?????? (hinoti, “to urge on, throw”), ???? (heti, “missile, projectile”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?o?d/
• Rhymes: -??d

Noun

goad (plural goads)

1. A long, pointed stick used to prod animals.
2. (figuratively) That which goads or incites; a stimulus.

Translations

Verb

goad (third-person singular simple present goads, present participle goading, simple past and past participle goaded)

1. To prod with a goad.
2. To encourage or stimulate.
3. To incite or provoke.

Translations

See also

• goat

Anagrams

• Goda, dago, doga

Scots

Etymology

From Old English god, of Germanic origin.

Noun

goad (plural goads)

1. God

English

Etymology

From Middle English vexen, from Old French vexer, from Latin v?x?re (“disturb, agitate, annoy”). Displaced native Middle English grillen (“to vex, annoy”) from Old English grillan. Doublet of quake.

Pronunciation

• enPR: v?ks, IPA^(key): /v?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Verb

vex (third-person singular simple present vexes, present participle vexing, simple past and past participle vexed or (archaic) vext)

1. (transitive, now rare) To trouble aggressively, to harass.
2. (transitive) To annoy, irritate.

3. (transitive) To cause (mental) suffering to; to distress.
4. (transitive, rare) To twist, to weave.

   • some English wool, vexed in a Belgian loom

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To be irritated; to fret.
   • 1613, George Chapman, The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois

     Wake when thou would'st wake, fear nought, vex for nought

6. (transitive) To toss back and forth; to agitate; to disquiet.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:vex.

Synonyms

• (to annoy): agitate, irk, irritate
• (to cause mental suffering): afflict, grame, torment

Derived terms

Related terms

• quake
• vexatious

Translations

Noun

vex (plural vexes)

1. (Scotland, obsolete) A trouble.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “vex”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

vex

1. Alternative form of wax (“wax”)

Etymology 2

Verb

vex

1. Alternative form of vexen