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Where does the word "esophagus" come from? It comes from Greek oisophagos, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
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Where does the word "esophagus" come from? It comes from Greek oisophagos, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).
Esophagus’s story begins in Greek: oisophagos meant “the food-carrying tube.” Literally that which carries what is eaten, from oisein (to carry) and phagein (to eat). It reached English by 1300s as esophagus. Settled as the medical word for the tube from throat to stomach. Today, esophagus means the muscular tube connecting the throat to the stomach.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient oisophagos "the food-carrying tube", literally that which carries what is eaten, from oisein (to carry) and phagein (to eat).
- Stage 2 · English · 1300s esophagus "the tube connecting the throat to the stomach", settled as the medical word for the tube from throat to stomach.