Esophagograms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A diagnostic imaging procedure using X-rays to visualize the esophagus and assess its condition
2. An examination technique involving the radiographic capture of images of the esophagus for medical evaluation
3. A method of creating detailed images of the esophageal structure to aid in diagnosing disorders related to swallowing

Etymology: "Esophagograms" is the plural of "esophagogram", a radiographic image of the gullet. The noun is built from two parts: "esophago-", a combining form from the Greek "oisophagos" (the gullet, literally "that which carries food"), and "-gram", from Greek "gramma" meaning "something written or drawn." The first element thus names the organ and the second names the record made of it, so the whole word means a picture or record of the esophagus. The pattern is a modern one. Words ending in "-gram" for images produced by X-ray or other instruments were coined in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, once radiography made it possible to photograph the inside of the body. Medical writers combined a Greek root for an organ with "-gram" in the same way for many such examinations.