phlegm

Pronunciation

• IPA: /flɛm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fleume,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French fleume,^[2][3][4] from Late Latin phlegma,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame, inflammation; a humour caused by heat”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from phlégein “to burn”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Spellings with ph- appear from the 16th century,^[7] and the modern form is attested by about 1660.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The cold, moist humour of the body (1373–1387).^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In ancient and medieval medicine, phlegm was one of the four humours,^[2][1] and an excess of it was thought to cause sluggishness and apathy,^[2][4][7] hence phlegmatic.^[4] The word also meant mucus from the respiratory passages (before 1398).^[3][7] From the 16th century it was used of a calm or sluggish temperament.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1373 – the cold, moist humour.^[3]
• before 1398 – mucus.^[3]
• 1486 – excess mucus discharged by coughing.^[7]
• about 1660 – the spelling phlegm.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Thick, sticky mucus produced in the throat and lungs, as during a cold.
2. (history) One of the four humours of ancient physiology, thought to be cold and moist and to cause sluggishness.
3. Sluggishness or apathy.
4. Calm self-possession; composure.

Word family

• phlegmy

Related words

• phlegmatic
• flame

Usage notes

Random House gives impassivity as a synonym of the sense “apathy”, and animation and concern as antonyms.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press