lung

US /lʊŋ/ UK /ˈlʌŋ/ See IPA manual

Freq #4902

Meanings

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

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.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms lungspulmoniferous

Derived forms aqualungbiolungleather-lungedlung-bustinglung-grownlungectomylungedlungednesslungerlungfishlungfullungless

Related forms pneumonicpulmonary

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

lung cancer
a cancer that develops in the tissues of the lungs

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Lung is an Old English word from the same ancient root as light in the sense “not heavy.” The name reflects the lungs’ relative lightness compared with other internal organs.

Etymology

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 Superseded non-native Middle Englis…

lunge Middle English lungen Old English *lunganjō Proto-Germanic *h₁lengʷʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# lung

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /lʊŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlʌŋ/
**Frequency rank:** 4902

## Meanings
1. One of the two organs in the chest that you use to breathe.
2. The ability to breathe deeply for exercise or effort.

## Examples
- She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with fresh air.
- He no longer has the lungs to play long rallies the way he used to.

## Derived Forms
- aqualung
- biolung
- leather-lunged
- lung-busting
- lung-grown
- lungectomy
- lunged
- lungedness
- lunger
- lungfish
- lungful
- lungless

## Related Forms
- pneumonic
- pulmonary

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lunge
- Root: lungen
- Root: *lunganjō
- Root: *h₁lengʷʰ-

## Etymology
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…

## AI Etymology
Lung comes 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). In present-day English its meanings include one of the two organs in the chest that you use to breathe and the ability to breathe deeply for exercise or effort. The historical chain runs through lunge (Middle English), lungen (Old English), *lunganjō (Proto-Germanic), and *h₁lengʷʰ- (Proto-Indo-European).

## Topics
- The Human Body

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