Syringe

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /sɪˈɹɪn(d)ʒ/

Definitions

1. A medical instrument used to inject fluids into the body or withdraw them, consisting of a tube with a plunger and hollow needle
2. A device designed for the administration or extraction of liquids from biological systems, characterized by a cylindrical tube and a movable piston mechanism
3. An implement utilized in healthcare settings to either deliver or remove liquids from living organisms, featuring a tubular structure and a needle attachment

Etymology: The Greek word "sûrinx" originally meant a shepherd's pipe, a reed instrument made of several hollow stalks bound together, the same kind of pipe associated with the god Pan. The medical device took its name from that musical object because its slender hollow tube looked like a reed pipe. Greek "sûrinx" passed into Latin as "sȳrinx" and then into Middle French as "syringe," and the word became a doublet of "syrinx," the same root surviving in two forms with different meanings. The thin tube of a syringe thus shares its ancestry with a musical instrument, and the link is visible in the English word "syrinx," which still names the vocal organ of birds. The medical sense only arrived much later, so the device is named for a pipe rather than for any medical function. The word has been used for an instrument that draws in or ejects fluid since at least the early modern period, when the tubular shape was the defining feature.

Synonyms: injector, hypodermic