Medicine & BodyGreek → English
Glottis
/ˈɡlɒtɪs/noun
The opening between the vocal folds, and the folds themselves.
The Greek roots
γλωττίς
glōttís
mouthpiece of a pipe
Literally: “little tongue, reed of a pipe”
Follow a root:γλωττίς2 words
The story of the word
Greek γλωττίς named the mouthpiece of an aulos, the reed pipe. Anatomists took it for the reed of the human body: the slit that buzzes when air is pushed through it. The Attic γλῶττα, tongue, is the same word behind polyglot and behind the epiglottis, the flap that folds down over the opening every time you swallow.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
epiglottispolyglotglottalglossary
In a sentence
A swelling that narrows the glottis makes every breath audible.
Singers learn to close the glottis without squeezing the throat.