Standard Lemma guide

pneumothorax

noun · 2 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

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnjuː.məʊˌθɔ.ɹæks/
  • General-American: /ˈnju.moʊˌθɔ.ɹæks/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Presence of air inside the pleural cavity, usually caused by injury either to the lung or the chest wall.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aerothorax, aeropleura

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

abnormal presence of air in the pleural cavity resulting in the collapse of the lung; may be spontaneous (due to injury to the chest) or induced (as a treatment for tuberculosis)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: abnormality, abnormalcy

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ Proto-Indo-European *pléwmō Ancient Greek πλεύμων (pleúmōn) ▲ Ancient Greek πνέω (pnéō)influ. ▲ Ancient Greek πνεῦμα (pneûma)influ. Ancient Greek πνεύμων (pneúmōn)bor. English pneumo- English thorax English pneumothorax From pneumo- + thorax.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: pneumotòrax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 氣胸 /气胸 (qìxiōng) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Dutch: klaplong — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Dutch: pneumothorax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Finnish: ilmarinta — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • French: pneumothorax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • German: Pneumothorax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Greek: πνευμοθώρακας (pnevmothórakas) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Greek: πνευμονοθώρακας (pnevmonothórakas) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Hebrew: פנאומותורקס (pne'umotóraks) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Hebrew: חזה אוויר (khazé avír) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Hungarian: légmell — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Italian: pneumotorace — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Japanese: 気胸 (kikyō) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Kazakh: пневмоторакс (pnevmotoraks) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Korean: 기흉 (gihyung) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Persian: پنوموتوراکس (penomotorâks) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Polish: odma opłucnowa — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Portuguese: pneumotórax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Romanian: pneumotorax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Russian: пневмото́ракс (pnevmotóraks) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Spanish: neumotórax — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Thai: โพรงเยื่อหุ้มปอดมีอากาศ (proong-yʉ̂ʉa-hûm-bpɔ̀ɔt-mii-aa-gàat) — presence of air inside the pleural cavity
  • Turkish: pnömotoraks — presence of air inside the pleural cavity