Oesophagus

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /iːˈsɒfəɡəs/

Definitions

1. The muscular tube linking the throat and stomach is essential for carrying food
2. this organ serves as a pathway for ingested materials from the mouth to the digestive tract
3. The conduit that connects the throat to the stomach facilitates the transport of food and liquids during the process of swallowing

Etymology: The Greek "oisophagos" is a compound of two verbs that were both common in everyday speech: "oisō", the future of "pherō" ("to carry"), and "ephagon", the past tense of "esthiō" ("to eat"). Put together, the literal sense is something like "that which will carry the eaten thing," a plain description of the tube that conveys food from mouth to stomach. English borrowed the word through Latin "oesophagus," which was itself taken from Greek, and it has been used in medical writing since at least the early modern period. Its spelling has shifted over the centuries, and the form "esophagus," without the initial "oe," is the standard in American usage, while British writers have kept the digraph. Both spellings describe the same organ, so the difference is one of convention rather than meaning.

Synonyms: esophagus