pharynx

noun

phar·​ynx ˈfer-iŋ(k)s 

ˈfa-riŋ(k)s

plural pharynges fə-ˈrin-(ˌ)jēz  also pharynxes

1

: the muscular tubular passage of the vertebrate digestive and respiratory tracts extending from the back of the nasal cavity and mouth to the esophagus compare nasopharynx, oropharynx

2

: a differentiated part of the digestive tract in some invertebrates that may be thickened and muscular, eversible and toothed, or adapted as a suctorial organ

Examples of pharynx in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Your pharynx sits behind your nasal cavity and mouth and is the throughway to your esophagus. —Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025

Additionally, due to financial restraints, bacterial samples were only collected from the tonsils and pharynx, rather than the full oral microbiome. —Paul McClure 25, New Atlas, 25 May 2025

People who drink and smoke have an elevated risk of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx and larynx. —Pranoti Mandrekar, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025

This, in turn, allowed for articulated speech and the descent of the tongue into the pharynx during the first two years of life, making the production of complex sounds possible. —Jenny Lehmann, Discover Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin pharyng-, pharynx (also Latinized early as pharynga, faringa), borrowed from Greek phárynx, pháryx "throat, gullet, pharynx," akin to pháranx "gully, chasm," of pre-Indo-European origin

Note: Greek phárynx (Homeric pháryx) has in the older scholarly literature been linked with Latin frūmen "upper part of the throat" (a word mentioned only in 4th/5th-century scholia on Terence and Virgil), Armenian erbuc, -oy "breast (of sacrificial animals)," Old Norse barki "windpipe, throat" (hence, for example, Frisk in Griechisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, 1960-72, who posits, in pre-laryngealist notation, *bhr̥rug- > pharyg-, *bhrug-s-men- > frūmen), with a further connection to the Indo-European verb bherH- "work with a sharp instrument, cut, split, bore" (see bore entry 1). More recently, however, Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2010, s.v.; Pre-Greek: Phonology, Morphology, Lexicon, Brill, 2014, pp. 44, 50-51) regards phárynx, pháryx and pháranx as substratal vocabulary of non-Indo-European origin, along with other terrain terms such as spêlynx "cave," sêranx "cavity hollowed out by water," láïnges "small stones" (Homer). Diagnostic are the suffix -Vng- and the alternation between nasal and non-nasal forms (pharyng-/pharyg-), perhaps reflecting a pre-nasalized stop in the substratal language. In the case of the base phar-, it is uncertain if the original sense was anatomical or topographical. The resemblance of Greek pharang- "gully, chasm" with pre-Romance *barrank- (whence Spanish barranco, barranca, etc.; see barranca) is striking and can hardly be ignored, though it does not settle the issue.

First Known Use

1638, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pharynx

• larynx

Kids Definition

pharynx

noun

phar·​ynx ˈfar-iŋ(k)s 

plural pharynges fə-ˈrin-(ˌ)jēz  also pharynxes

: a tube extending from the back of the nasal cavity and mouth to the esophagus in vertebrate animals that is the passage through which air passes to the larynx and food to the esophagus

Medical Definition

pharynx

noun

phar·​ynx ˈfar-iŋ(k)s 

plural pharynges fə-ˈrin-(ˌ)jēz  also pharynxes

: the part of the digestive and respiratory tracts situated between the cavity of the mouth and the esophagus and in humans being a conical musculomembranous tube about four and a half inches (11.43 centimeters) long that is continuous above with the mouth and nasal passages, communicates through the eustachian tubes with the ears, and extends downward past the opening into the larynx to the lower border of the cricoid cartilage where it is continuous with the esophagus see laryngopharynx, nasopharynx, oropharynx