How to Pronounce Sympathetic Ophthalmia
Definition, meaning, and phonetic spelling
Sympathetic Ophthalmia Pronunciation
sim-pah-THET-ik of-THAL-mee-ah
Stressed syllable in ALL CAPS · hyphens separate syllables
Syllable Breakdown
sim
pah
THET
stress here
ik of
THAL
stress here
mee
ah
7 syllables
What is Sympathetic Ophthalmia?
A rare autoimmune bilateral uveitis that develops in both eyes after penetrating trauma or surgery to one eye, in which the immune system attacks uveal pigment in both the injured and the previously healthy eye, potentially causing blindness in the uninjured eye.
Questions About Sympathetic Ophthalmia
How do you pronounce sympathetic ophthalmia?
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Say it like this: sim-pah-THET-ik of-THAL-mee-ah. The stress falls on the third syllable (THET), which is the loudest and longest part when you say it. If you say the word out loud slowly, you'll hear that THET gets the emphasis.
What is the most common mispronunciation of this term?
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People often stress the wrong syllable and say sim-PAH-thet-ik instead of sim-pah-THET-ik. Remember that the "THET" part is where your voice gets louder, not the second syllable.
How do you break sympathetic ophthalmia into syllables?
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Here's how it breaks down: sym-pa-THET-ic oph-THAL-mi-a. The first word (sympathetic) has four syllables, and the second word (ophthalmia) has four syllables as well, for a total of eight syllables.
What does the word 'sympathetic' mean in this medical term?
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In this term, 'sympathetic' comes from Greek and means 'feeling with' or 'responding to.' It describes how one eye is reacting in sympathy with the other eye—the healthy eye is responding to what happened to the injured eye.
What does 'ophthalmia' mean?
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Ophthalmia comes from Greek and means 'eye inflammation' or 'eye disease.' The 'ophthalm-' part refers to the eye, and the '-ia' ending means a condition or disease. So this word part tells you the condition involves the eyes.
What is the plain English meaning of sympathetic ophthalmia?
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In simple terms, it's when inflammation develops in both eyes after one eye has been injured, and the healthy eye's immune system starts attacking it in response. Think of it as one eye's problem affecting the other eye.
Are there related words that share the 'ophthalmia' root?
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Yes! Other eye-related medical words use the same root, like 'ophthalmologist' (an eye doctor) and 'ophthalmology' (the study of eyes). Whenever you see 'ophthalm-' in a medical word, it's about the eyes.
Can you use this term in a simple sentence?
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You might hear it used like this: 'The eye specialist explained that sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare condition where both eyes can be affected by inflammation.' This shows how the term is used when doctors or educators talk about this eye condition.