Migraine
late Middle English: from French, via late Latin from Greek hēmikrania, from hēmi- ‘half’ + kranion ‘skull’.
wiktionary
1777 re-spelling (following French) of late 14th century Middle English megrim, from 13th century Old French migraigne, from Vulgar Latin pronunciation of Latin hemicrania(“pain in one half of the head”), from Ancient Greek ἡμικρανία(hēmikranía), from ἡμι-(hēmi-, “ hemi-, half”) + κρανίον(kraníon, “skull”) (whence also cranium) [1], a calque of Egyptian gs-tp(“headache”), [2] [3] from gs(“half”) + tp(“head”), although the link between the Egyptian magical papyri and the Greek ἡμικρανία(hēmikranía) could be purely incidental.
Cognate to megrim, hemicrania.
etymonline
migraine (n.)
late 14c., migrane, "severe headache, especially on one side of the head," from Old French migraine, migraigne (13c.), from the vulgar pronunciation of Late Latin hemicrania "pain in one side of the head, headache," from Greek hēmikrania, from hēmi- "half" + kranion "skull" (see cranium).
The corrupt form megrim was common from 15c. on and is the principle entry for the word in Century Dictionary (1895), but it seems to be now obsolete or archaic even in its secondary senses of "depression; low spirits" and "a whim or fancy." Related: Migrainous.
