migraine [LME] People unfortunate enough to suffer from migraine know that this sort of throbbing headache usually affects one side of the head—reflected in the origin of the word. It is a highly shortened form of Greek hemi- ‘half’ and kranion ‘skull’, the source of English cranium [LME]. Until the 20th century the form megrim, also used for a fit of being difficult, was more common than migraine.