sick
UK[sɪk]US[sɪk]
adj
affected by physical or mental illness
adj
feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit
adj
informal. very good or excellent; impressive
adj
informal. cruel or having unpleasant connotations (as in a sick joke)
v
informal. to vomit
Etymology
the word 'sick' originates from the old english 'sēoc', meaning ill or weak, which itself has germanic roots, related to old high german 'sioh' and old norse 'sjúkr'. its proto-germanic ancestor is thought to be 'seukaz', carrying the core sense of being afflicted or unwell. the semantic journey from its ancient meaning of general illness to the specific modern sense of nausea is a common narrowing of meaning. interestingly, the development of informal, positive slang meanings like 'excellent' represents a complete semantic inversion, a phenomenon often seen in youth and counter-culture lexicons.
Analysis
the word is a simplex unit derived from old english. it is not productively formed from smaller, independent morphemes in modern english.
Examples
he called in sick to work because he had a high fever.
the rough boat ride made her feel terribly sick.
that new skateboard trick you did was absolutely sick!