Oesophagoscope

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medical tool designed to visually inspect the interior of the esophagus for diagnosis or treatment
2. An endoscopic device used by doctors to look inside the tube connecting the throat and stomach
3. A slender, flexible instrument that enables examination of the esophageal lining for abnormalities

Etymology: The word is built from two Greek-derived parts. "Oesophagus" (or "esophagus") comes from the Greek "oisophagos," a compound of "oisein," "to carry," and "phagos," "eating," so it names the tube that carries food to the stomach. The "-scope" ending comes from the Greek "skopein," "to look at" or "examine," the same root that gives "microscope" and "telescope." An oesophagoscope, then, is literally an instrument for looking at the food-carrying tube. The term is a modern coinage built from these classical pieces rather than a word the ancient Greeks used. Its spelling variants show the usual split in English between British "oe" and American "e," and the form with "oe" follows the older British convention for words borrowed from Greek through Latin.