Phlegm - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Noun
    • 1.3.1 Derived terms
    • 1.3.2 Related terms
    • 1.3.3 Translations
    • 1.3.4 References

• Entry
• Discussion

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:phlegmWikipedia

Etymology

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From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from φλέγειν (phlégein, “to burn”). Possible burning sensation when coughing up phlegm, Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.[1][2]

The regularly developed form /fliːm/ has been displaced by a pronunciation /flɛm/ of uncertain provenance.[3] It may be inherited, though some kind of learned or spelling pronunciation or influence from phlegmatic is also conceivable.

Pronunciation

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• (UK, US) IPA(key): /flɛm/
• IPA(key): (obsolete) /fliːm/[4]
• IPA(key): (Early Modern) /flɛːm/[3]

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

Noun

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phlegm (usually uncountable, plural phlegms)

1. (historical) One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus. [from 13th c.]
   • 1993, William Dalrymple, City of Djinns, HarperCollins:Each person's unique mixture of these substances determines his temperament: a predominance of blood gives a sanguine temperament; a predominance of phlegm makes one phlegmatic; yellow bile, bilious (or choleric); and black bile, melancholic.
2. Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing. [from 14th c.]
   • 2005, "Endangered Species?" Hannah Beech, Time, 14 Nov 2005: "Even some members of the new bourgeoisie indulge in conspicuously boorish behavior, like hawking phlegm onto the pavement or picking their noses at business meetings."
3. (historical, chemistry, alchemy) A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution. [from 16th c.]
   • 1812, Humphry Davy, The Elements of Chemical Philosophy, Introduction, Part I. Vol. I, pp. 50-51:The attempts made to analyse vegetable substances previous to 1720, merely produced their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days, namely, salts, Earths, phlegm, and sulphur.
4. Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference. [from 16th c.]
   • 1941, Isaac Asimov, The Early Asimov, Volume 2, published 1974, page 180:Orloff's phlegm broke completely, and he snatched at the monocle as it dropped[.]
   • 1942 October 5, “Warning to Sweden”, in Time:But Swedish Nazis also talked of the necessity of saving Sweden from Bolshevism, and with the menacing Berlin radio gnawing in their ears many Swedes lost their Scandinavian phlegm.

Derived terms

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• dephlegm
• flob
• leucophlegmacy
• phlegm-cutter
• phlegmish
• phlegmless
• phlegmy

Related terms

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• phlegmatic
• phlegmon

Translations

[edit] historical: humour

Arabic: بَلْغَم m (balḡam) Catalan: flegma (ca) f Finnish: lima (fi) French: flegme (fr) m, pituite (fr) f Galician: flegma f German: Phlegma (de) n Greek: Ancient: φλέγμα n (phlégma) Hebrew: לֵחָה f (lekha) Latin: pītuīta f Persian: بلغم (fa) (balġam) Portuguese: fleuma (pt) m or f, flegma (pt) f Russian: фле́гма (ru) f (flégma) Spanish: flegma f (disused), flema (es) f Tagalog: plema

mucus secreted in the bronchial passages

Arabic: بَلْغَم m (balḡam), قُشَاعَة f (qušāʕa) Egyptian Arabic: بلغم m (balğam) Armenian: խորխ (hy) (xorx) Assamese: খেঁকাৰ (khẽkar) Azerbaijani: bəlğəm Bashkir: ҡаҡырыҡ (qaqırıq) Belarusian: макро́та f (makróta), харко́ціна f (xarkócina), слізь f (slizʹ) Bulgarian: хра́чки (bg) f pl (hráčki), слуз f (sluz) Burmese: သလိပ် (my) (sa.lip), အချွဲ (my) (a.hkywai:) Catalan: flegma (ca) f, gargall (ca) m Cebuano: plema, kughal Chinese: Mandarin: 痰 (zh) (tán) Czech: hlen (cs) m, sopel (cs) m, sliz (cs) m Danish: slim (da) c or n Dutch: slijm (nl) m Finnish: lima (fi) French: glaire (fr) f Galician: flegma f, gargallo (gl) m, esgarro (gl) m Georgian: ლორწო (lorc̣o), ლორწოვანი ნახველი (lorc̣ovani naxveli), ნახველი (naxveli) German: Schleim (de) m, Nasenschleim (de) m, Popel (de) m Greek: φλέματα (el) n pl (flémata) Ancient: φλέγμα n (phlégma) Hebrew: לֵחָה f, כִּיחַ (he) m (ki'akh) Hindi: बलग़म m (balġam), बलगम (hi) m (balgam), कफ (hi) m (kaph), श्लेष्मा (hi) (śleṣmā) Icelandic: öndunarfæraslím n, kvefslím n Ilocano: turkak Indonesian: dahak (id) Irish: réama m Italian: espettorato (it) m Japanese: 痰 (ja) (たん, tan) Kapampangan: badlo Kazakh: қақырық (qaqyryq) Khmer: ស្លេស្ម (km) (slaeh), សេមហកលា (seemhaʼkaʼlaa) Kikuyu: kohozi, makorora Korean: 가래 (ko) (garae) Kyrgyz: какырык (ky) (kakırık) Lao: ສເລດ (sa lēt), ອາກ (ʼāk) Latin: pītuīta f Lithuanian: skrepliai m pl Macedonian: слуз f (sluz) Malay: kahak (ms) Maori: wharo, wharowharo, mare (mi), maremare Middle Persian: (please verify) blgm (balgam) Mongolian: Cyrillic: цэр (mn) (cer), салс (mn) (sals) Mongolian: ᠴᠡᠷ (čer), ᠰᠠᠯᠢᠰᠤ (salisu) Navajo: chátłʼish Norwegian: Bokmål: slim (no) n Nynorsk: slim n Ojibwe: agig Ottoman Turkish: بلغم (belgam) Pashto: بلغم (ps) m (balǧam) Persian: بلغم (fa) (balġam) Polish: śluz (pl) m, flegma (pl) f Portuguese: catarro (pt) m Romanian: flegmă (ro) f Russian: мокро́та (ru) f (mokróta), слизь (ru) f (slizʹ), фле́гма (ru) f (flégma) Sanskrit: श्लेष्मन् (sa) m (śleṣman), कफ (sa) m (kapha), खट (sa) m (khaṭa) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: слу̑з f Roman: slȗz (sh) f Slovak: hlien m, sliz m Slovene: sluz f Spanish: flema (es) f, sheta f (Guatemala), flegma f (disused), gargajo (es) m, esputo (es) m Swahili: kohozi (sw) Swedish: slem (sv) n Tagalog: kalaghala, kanaghala, kanighala, plema Tajik: балғам (balġam) Tamil: சளி (ta) (caḷi) Thai: เสลด (th) (sà-lèet), เสมหะ (th) (sěem-hà), สิ่งขาก Tibetan: ལུད་པ (lud pa) Turkish: balgam (tr) Turkmen: gakylyk Ukrainian: мокроти́ння n (mokrotýnnja), мокро́та f (mokróta), харкоти́ння f (xarkotýnnja), слиз (uk) f (slyz) Urdu: بلغم m (balġam) Uyghur: بەلغەم (belghem), خەپرۈك (xeprük) Uzbek: balgʻam (uz) Vietnamese: đờm (vi)

calmness, composure

Bulgarian: му́дност (bg) f (múdnost), флегмати́чност (bg) f (flegmatíčnost) Catalan: flegma (ca) f Finnish: tyyneys (fi), flegma (fi) French: flegme (fr) m Galician: flegma f, cachaza (gl) f Georgian: ფლეგმატურობა (plegmaṭuroba), სიმშვიდე (simšvide), აუღელვებლობა (auɣelvebloba), გულგრილობა (gulgriloba) German: Gemütsruhe (de) f, Gleichmut (de) m, Trägheit (de) f, Schwerfälligkeit f, stoische Ruhe f, Phlegma (de) n Greek: φλέγμα (el) n (flégma) Icelandic: rólyndi n, deyfð (is) f Irish: fuarchúis f Italian: flemma (it) f Japanese: 冷静さ (ja) (れいせいさ, reiseisa) Portuguese: fleuma (pt) m or f Russian: фле́гма (ru) f (flégma), флегмати́чность (ru) f (flegmatíčnostʹ) Spanish: flema (es) f, flegma f (disused)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations. Translations to be checked

Georgian: (please verify) ლორწო (lorc̣o), (please verify) ნახველი (naxveli), (please verify) სისველე (sisvele), (please verify) ფლეგმა (plegma) Hebrew: ליחה f Polish: orosienie n

References

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1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “phlegm”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. ^ “phlegm”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dobson, E[ric] J. (1957), English pronunciation 1500-1700‎[1], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 475.
4. ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (2 March 1942), “1. The Vowel Sounds of Stressed Syllables”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 4, page 21.

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