Pneumonokoniose

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chronic lung disease caused by breathing in fine mineral or metal dust over a long period of time
2. A lung condition that develops when fine particles of dust are inhaled and accumulate in the airways and tissue
3. An occupational illness of the lungs resulting from long exposure to inhaled dust, such as coal or silica particles

Etymology: "Pneumonokoniose" is the Greek-derived name for a family of lung diseases caused by breathing in mineral dust, and it was coined as a scientific term in the nineteenth century rather than in antiquity. The word is built from two Greek elements. "Pneumon" meant "lung" (the same root that gives "pneumonia" and "pneumatic"), and "konis" meant "dust," the root behind "coniosis," the general term for diseases caused by inhaled particles. The "-osis" ending marks a diseased or abnormal condition, so the whole word literally means something like "lung condition caused by dust." The term was devised by medical writers working in English and German who needed a precise label for the damage done to miners, stonemasons and other workers exposed to fine particles over long periods. Ancient Greek physicians had no such concept, so the word is a modern construction assembled entirely from classical building blocks. Its spelling with a final "e" follows the Latinate and German-influenced pattern of medical vocabulary of that period.