Standard Lemma guide

pharyngeal

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /fəˈɹɪn.d͡ʒi.əl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /fəˈɹɪn.ʒi.əl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌfa.ɹɪnˈd͡ʒiː.əl/
  • General-American: /ˌfɛɹ.ənˈd͡ʒi.əl/
  • General-American: /ˌfæɹ.ənˈd͡ʒi.əl/
  • General-American: /fəˈɹɪn.d͡ʒi.əl/
  • General-American: /fəˈɹɪn.d͡ʒəl/
  • rhymes with -ɪndʒiəl
  • rhymes with -ɪnʒiəl
  • rhymes with -iːəl
  • rhymes with -ɪndʒəl
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the pharynx.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Articulated with the pharynx; a term usually describing a consonant which is articulated by the rear area of the tongue being raised to below the region between the uvula and the pharyngeal wall. The term cannot apply to a plosive or stop consonant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Ellipsis of pharyngeal consonant (“a sound that is articulated with the pharynx”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, phonetics, phonology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

of or relating to the throat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • pharyngeal fricatives

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: guttural, guttural consonant, pharyngeal consonant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consonant

History

Etymology

From Late Latin pharyngeus + -al, from pharynx (“the pharynx”) + -eus (adjectival suffix).

Across languages

Translations

59 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بُلْعُومِيّ (bulʕūmiyy) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Catalan: faringi — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Chinese Mandarin: 咽的 (yān-de) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Czech: hltanový — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Czech: faryngální — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Dutch: faringisch — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Finnish: nielu- — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Finnish: faryngaalinen — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • French: pharyngé — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • French: pharyngien — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Galician: farínxeo — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • German: pharyngisch — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • German: pharyngal — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Greek: φαρυγγικός (faryngikós) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Hebrew: לועי (loí) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Italian: faringale — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Japanese: 咽頭 (intō) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Latin: pharyngicus — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Latin: pharyngeus — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Latin: pharyngeālis — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Polish: gardłowy — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Portuguese: faríngeo — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Portuguese: faringiano — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Portuguese: faríngico — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Russian: гло́точный (glótočnyj) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Russian: фарингеа́льный (faringeálʹnyj) — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Spanish: faríngeo — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Swedish: svalg- — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Swedish: faryngal — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Volapük: farinik — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Welsh: sefnigol — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Welsh: argegol — of or pertaining to the pharynx
  • Arabic: حَلْقِيّ (ḥalqiyy) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Catalan: faringi — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Chinese Mandarin: 咽的 (yān-de) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Dutch: faringisch — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Finnish: kurkku- — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Finnish: faryngaalinen — of pharyngeal sounds
  • French: pharyngé — of pharyngeal sounds
  • French: pharyngien — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Galician: farínxeo — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Georgian: ხახისმიერი (xaxismieri) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Georgian: ფარინგალური (paringaluri) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • German: pharyngisch — of pharyngeal sounds
  • German: pharyngal — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Greek: φαρυγγικός (faryngikós) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Hebrew: לועי (loí) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Italian: faringale — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Japanese: 咽頭音 (intō-on) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Latin: pharyngicus — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Polish: gardłowy — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Polish: faryngalny — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Portuguese: faríngeo — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Russian: горта́нный (gortánnyj) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Russian: фаринга́льный (faringálʹnyj) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Russian: фарингеа́льный (faringeálʹnyj) — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Spanish: faríngeo — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Welsh: sefnigol — of pharyngeal sounds
  • Welsh: argegol — of pharyngeal sounds