Respiratory system terms
| Rhin/o | Nose | Rhinitis, rhinorrhea (inflammation of and “runny” nose) |
| Laryng/o | Larynx, “voice box”* | Laryngotomy, Laryngectomy (cutting into, surgically removing the larynx) |
| Trache/o | Trachea, “windpipe” | Tracheotomy, tracheostomy (temporary and permanent openings) |
| Bronch/o | Lung air passageways | Bronchoscopy (looking into the bronchi) |
| Pne/u, -pnea | Breath, air, lung | Tachypnea, dyspnea, apnea (accelerated, difficult/painful, cessation of breathing) |
| Pulmo/o | Lung | Pulmonary artery |
| -ptysis | Spitting (coughing) | Hemoptysis (spitting or coughing up blood from lungs) |
| -plasty | Reconstruction | Rhinoplasty (surgical reconstruction of nose) |
*Adam’s apple – Everyone is familiar with the bulge in the front of the neck we call an ‘Adam’s apple.’ This structure, termed the laryngeal prominence, is a cartilage in the ‘voice box’ or larynx. Testosterone, the male hormone, enlarges the larynx in males which also lengthens the vocal cords lowering the voice at puberty. Folklore has it that the “forbidden fruit” offered by Eve got stuck in Adam’s throat. The fruit is not identified in Genesis. However, in art it is traditionally portrayed as an apple. Why? The forbidden fruit was from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Latin word for evil, malum, also means apple. The Latin root is found in such words as malady and malignant.