How to Pronounce Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax is pronounced noo-moh-THOR-aks. The stress falls on the third syllable, which is THOR (rhymes with "or"). Say it like you're saying "new mow THOR acks" all together, and you'll have it right.

Many people stress the first syllable and say NEW-moh-thorax, but that's incorrect. The correct stress is on the THOR part in the middle: noo-moh-THOR-aks. Another common mistake is pronouncing the "pn" at the start—you should skip the "p" sound and just say "noo."

Pneumothorax breaks into four syllables: pneu-mo-tho-rax. When you say it out loud, it flows as one word, but these are the natural breaks between the sounds.

Pneumothorax comes from two Greek roots: "pneumo" means air or lung, and "thorax" means chest. Put together, the word literally means air in the chest, which describes what happens when air enters the space around the lung.

In plain English, a pneumothorax is a collapsed lung. It happens when air gets into the space between your lung and your rib cage, which pushes on the lung and makes it flatten or shrink.

Yes, doctors often use the abbreviation PTX or just call it a "collapsed lung." You might also hear people say "pneumo" for short, though that's more informal.

Several medical words share the "pneumo" root: pneumonia (a lung infection), pneumothorax, and pneumococcus (a type of bacteria). All of them have to do with the lungs or air.

Here's an example: "The patient was diagnosed with a pneumothorax after imaging showed air between the lung and chest wall." Or more simply: "A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space surrounding the lung."