sputum

American  

[spyoo-tuhm] / ˈspju təm /

noun

• sputa
  plural

1. matter, as saliva mixed with mucus or pus, expectorated from the lungs and respiratory passages.

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sputum British  

/ ˈspjuːtəm /

noun

1. a mass of salivary matter ejected from the mouth

2. saliva ejected from the mouth mixed with mucus or pus exuded from the respiratory passages, as in bronchitis or bronchiectasis

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sputa
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sputum

1685–95; < Latin spūtum, noun use of neuter of spūtus, past participle of spuere to spit, equivalent to spū- variant stem + -tus past participle suffix

Compare meaning

How does sputum compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sputum vs. mucus

Explanation

Sputum is the gross stuff that you cough up when you're sick and congested. Sputum is your saliva mixed with mucus from your lungs. Examining a patient's sputum is one way for a doctor to tell if she might have an infection, rather than just a cold. A yellow or greenish color to the sputum someone coughs up is a sign of infection, while clear sputum usually means all is well. The word sputum shares a root with spew, the Latin verb spuere, "to spit."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sputum sputa

That’s sputum, the mucus found deep in the airways.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

It also delivered results in less than four hours for urine, pus, and sputum samples, and within one day for blood samples.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024

A sign at the entrance to the clinic announces the other major health problem: "sputum sampling" for tuberculosis or TB.

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2023

She said she was concerned because Tammy Daybell was just 49 and also had quite a bit of foamy pink sputum coming from her mouth.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2023

He tells me how TB is such a deceptive disease; it doesn’t always reveal itself by a sputum culture, as it did for the father.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

I should say that I have examined a great deal of sputa, but, with the exception of cases that were malarious, I have not encountered the mature plants before.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 384, May 12, 1883 by Various

Cough with greyish expectoration; cough with thick sputa; short, dry cough in the afternoon; very troublesome cough with white sputa and tasteless.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz

The germ of pulmonary consumption, known as the bacillus tuberculosis, is contained in the breath and the sputa from the lungs of its victims.

From A Practical Physiology by Albert F. Blaisdell

All excreta, and more especially the sputa or discharges from the mouth or nose, are to be treated as dangerous.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

I did so, and to my surprise the blood-streaked sputa again appeared after they had taken the remedy ix, one grain four times daily.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Edward Pollock Anshutz