1. a febrile condition in which there are alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating (used chiefly in reference to the fevers associated with malaria) 2. a chill or fit of shivering
Ague appears as a synonym of yesterday's word, febrile. Oddly enough, I remember coming across this word back in college when I read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's such a strange word that I must have looked it up or something. In any case, it stuck with me. A quick search inside the book on amazon.com brought up this passage: "He was shivering with a kind of ague. For nearly twenty minutes, neither of the men spoke. A fly buzzed noisily about the room, and the ticking of the clock was like the beat of a hammer."
I recall first seeing this word in one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a youngster ("fever and ague". Also remember being surprised that it was pronounced a-gyoo, not awg, when I checked the pronunciation in the dictionary. What an odd word.
I agree; it is an odd word. Not used much anymore either. Too bad. I like odd words.