# phlegm
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from φλέγειν (phlégein, “to burn”). Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.
The regularly developed form /fliːm/ has been displaced by a pronunciation /flɛm/ of uncertain provenance. It may be inherited, though some kind of learned or spelling pronunciation or influence from phlegmatic is also conceivable.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) IPA: /flɛm/
* (obsolete) IPA: /fliːm/
* (Early Modern) IPA: /flɛːm/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛm

### Noun

phlegm (usually uncountable, plural phlegms)
* (historical) One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus. [from 13th c.]
** 1993, William Dalrymple, City of Djinns, HarperCollins:Each person's unique mixture of these substances determines his temperament: a predominance of blood gives a sanguine temperament; a predominance of phlegm makes one phlegmatic; yellow bile, bilious (or choleric); and black bile, melancholic.
* Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing. [from 14th c.]
** 2005, "Endangered Species?" Hannah Beech, Time, 14 Nov 2005:
    "Even some members of the new bourgeoisie indulge in conspicuously boorish behavior, like hawking phlegm onto the pavement or picking their noses at business meetings."
* (historical, chemistry, alchemy) A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution. [from 16th c.]
** 1812, Humphry Davy, The Elements of Chemical Philosophy, Introduction, Part I. Vol. I, pp. 50-51:The attempts made to analyse vegetable substances previous to 1720, merely produced their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days, namely, salts, Earths, phlegm, and sulphur.
* Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference. [from 16th c.]
** 1941, Isaac Asimov, The Early Asimov, Volume 2, published 1974, page 180:Orloff's phlegm broke completely, and he snatched at the monocle as it dropped[.]
** 1942 October 5, “Warning to Sweden”, in Time:But Swedish Nazis also talked of the necessity of saving Sweden from Bolshevism, and with the menacing Berlin radio gnawing in their ears many Swedes lost their Scandinavian phlegm.

#### Derived terms

* phlegm-cutter
* phlegmish
* phlegmy

#### Related terms

* phlegmatic
* phlegmon

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “phlegm”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
* ↑ “phlegm”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
* 1 2 Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 475.
* ↑ Hall, Joseph Sargent (1942 March 2) “1. The Vowel Sounds of Stressed Syllables”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 4, page 21.