Otorhinolaryngology

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The medical specialty concerned with diagnosing and treating disorders of the ears, nose, and throat along with related structures of the head and neck
2. A branch of medicine focused on the ear, nose, and throat, including their diseases, surgery, and associated conditions of the head and neck
3. The field of clinical medicine that studies and treats illnesses affecting the ears, nose, throat, and nearby head and neck regions

Etymology: Otorhinolaryngology is a modern medical coinage, built from three Greek combining forms stuck together with a fourth. "Oto-" comes from Greek "ōtos", genitive of "oûs", meaning ear; "rhino-" comes from "rhīs", meaning nose; and "laryngo-" comes from "larynx", the throat. The final element, "-logy", comes from Greek "logos" through Latin "-logia" and French "-logie", and means the study or science of something. So the whole word simply means "the study of the ear, nose and throat." Nothing in this word was ever used by the ancient Greeks or Romans as a unit. The Greeks had each piece separately, and they could combine them freely, but the joined term belongs to the era of modern medicine, when clinicians began grouping these three areas into a single specialty. That is why its parts come from classical roots while the word itself is a recent creation.

Synonyms: otolaryngology