lung

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   One of the two organs in the chest that you use to breathe.

   She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with fresh air.

2. 2
   noun

   The ability to breathe deeply for exercise or effort.

   He no longer has the lungs to play long rallies the way he used to.

From Middle English lunge, longe, from Old English lungen, from Proto-Germanic *lunganjō, an enlargement of *lungô (“the light organ, lung”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-, whence ultimately also light. Cognate with West Frisian long, Dutch long, German Lunge, Danish lunge, Norwegian lunge, Swedish lunga, Icelandic lunga, and also Russian лёгкое (ljóxkoje) (lung), Ancient Greek ἐλαφρός (elaphrós, “light in weight”) and perhaps Albanian lungë (“blister, bulge”). Compare Latin levis and Old English lēoht (Modern English light). See also lights (“lungs”). Superseded non-native Middle Englis…

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