lung English · revision 7844

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ine-pro *h₁lengʷʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlʌŋ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English lunge, [[inh|ang|lungen]] (plural),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *lunganjo-,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) source also of Old Norse lunga, Dutch [[m|nl|long]] and German [[m|de|Lunge]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) literally the light organ, from PIE [[ine-pro|*h₁lengʷʰ-|alt=*legwh-|t=light, not heavy]] (see [[light]]),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) the source also of Russian lëgkoje, lung.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Either of the two breathing organs: about 1000, in Ælfric's ''Glossary''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The lungs were perhaps so named because in a cooking pot they float while the heart and liver do not;^(Etymonline) compare [[lights]], the lungs of slaughtered animals,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and Portuguese leve, Irish scamán and Welsh ysgyfaint, all words for lungs from words meaning light.^(Etymonline) Open spaces in a city, ''the lungs of London'', are from 1651.^(OED 1989) Analogous organs in other animals are from 1889.^(OED 1989) A chemist's assistant who blows the fire, a ''lungs'', is an obsolete sense of 1610.^(OED 1989) ''Lung-power'', strength of voice, is from 1852, and ''lung cancer'' is attested from 1882.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – lungen.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610 – one who blows the fire (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1651 – lungs of a city.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1852 – lung-power.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1882 – lung cancer.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Either of the two spongy organs in the chest that take in [[oxygen]] and remove [[carbon dioxide]] from the blood.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A similar organ in some other animals, such as spiders and snails.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lungful]]

+ * [[leather-lunged]]

+ * [[lunged]]

+ * [[lunger]]

+ * [[lungfish]]

+ * [[lungworm]]

+ * [[lungwort]]

+ * [[black lung]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lights]]

+ * [[light]]

+ * [[pulmonary]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''At the top of one's lungs'' means in one's loudest voice.^(Collins 2023) The related adjectives are pulmonary and pneumonic.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}