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• dyspnea •

Pronunciation: disp-nee-ê • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass (no plural)

Meaning: Difficult or labored breath, shortness of breath.

Notes: British speakers like to add an O after the N, spelling this word dyspnoea. Remember the [dis] sound of this word is the Greek dys- "bad, unfortunate, mis-", not Latin dis-. It means the opposite of eu- "good, fortunate", so the antonym of dyspnea is eupnea "easy breathing, normal respiration". The adjective for this noun is either dyspneal or dyspneic.

In Play: This word's haunt is usually medical vocabulary: "The pyrethroids used in insecticides can lead to a variety of ill effects, including tremors, dyspnea, and paralysis." But there's nothing hindering our bringing it out into the general vocabulary: "After drinking the concoction his wife had given him, Tommy Gunn felt dizzy and dyspneic. Then he dropped to the floor."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from the Greek dyspnoia, comprising dys- "bad, unfortunate" + pnoie "breathing". We find dys- on many English words borrowed directly from Greek: dysentery, dysfunction, and dysrhythmia. Pnoie is the noun from pnein "to breathe" that we also see in pneumonia. Since it is associated with air, we are not surprised to find it in another Hellenic borrowing, pneumatic. Old English (OE) had a word based on pneu, fneosan "to sneeze". The ride from OE was too much for the initial FN cluster, so fneosan ended up in Modern English as sneeze. Fneosan suffered the same fate as OE fneran "to breathe heavily", which is sneer today. (Now a heartfelt thanks to newcomer Peter Barrow, who thought it worthwhile to rescue today's very Good Word from the medical vocabulary.)

Also medical, but more familiar, is "apnea", or interrupted breathing. Or maybe just temporarily forgetting to breathe.

And the phrase "mon pneu à plat", an expression to bedevil high school students concurrently trying to learn French and how to drive.

My dear wife has been an asthmatic all her life. At the present time she has respiratory and heart problems that prevent adequate oxygen to the brain. Her dyspnea is a serious condition. I have known you Agora folks a long time. Please join me in the hope that she will be restored by the stint they will put in her heart two days from now.

Well if it's any comfort, Philip, the stent they put in my heart eight years ago has given no trouble since - and what's more, I am still here. Good luck at your end. The surgery is keyhole through the wrist these days - in and out very quickly. I hope it is easy for your wife.

Thanks for the encouragement, David.

Regarding 'fneosan': there is a Swedish word 'fnysa', describing a quick and forced nasal outward snort, made to show disbelief and/or disrespect.

//Joakim Larsson

Regarding 'fneosan': there is a Swedish word 'fnysa', describing a quick and forced nasal outward snort, made to show disbelief and/or disrespect.

Another descendant of the PIE word. I should have mentioned it.