pneumon

Pneumon is the ancient Greek word for the lung, the organ responsible for respiration. In medical terminology it survives as a combining form used to form lung-related terms in English and other languages. Examples include pneumonia (inflammation of the lung), pneumonitis (inflammation of lung tissue), pneumonectomy (surgical removal of a lung), and pneumothorax (air in the pleural cavity), though the latter uses a related prefix from Greek for air.

Etymology and usage: The root pneumon- comes from Greek pneumon meaning lung, related to the broader concept of breath from pneuma. In English medical vocabulary there are two common roots for the lung: pneumon-/pneumo- (Greek origin) and pulmon-/pulmon- (Latin origin). Pneumon- terms tend to occur in specialized or historical terms; pulmon- forms are more widespread in contemporary terms like pulmonology, pulmonary disease, and pulmonary function tests.

In practice, the term pneumon may be seen in dictionary entries as the Greek root; modern usage rarely uses pneumon as a standalone word in everyday medicine, but it remains part of many compound terms and appears in historical or academic contexts. The more everyday modern terminology often favors pulmon- derivatives, though the Pneumon root continues to appear in various medical terms and in literature tracing the history of respiratory medicine.