empyema
[em-pee-ee-muh, -pahy-]
- a collection of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity.
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Origin of empyema
1605–15; < Late Latin < Greek empýēma abscess, equivalent to em- em-2 + pyē- (variant stem of pyeîn to suppurate, akin to pýon, pýos pus) + -ma noun suffix denoting result of action
Also called pyothorax.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for empyema
Historical Examples
Murchison refers to three cases in which it was followed by empyema.
For empyema he advises opening of the chest and indicates where and how.
Education: How Old The NewJames J. Walsh
(vii) If a hæmothorax suppurates, it must be treated on the ordinary lines of an empyema.
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900George Henry Makins
Cold abscess or empyema of the knee is a rare condition, in which the joint becomes filled with pus.
Infective emboli are liable to lodge in the lung or pleura, and set up pulmonary abscess, gangrene of the lung, or empyema.
empyema
- a collection of pus in a body cavity, esp in the chest
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Word Origin
C17: from Medieval Latin, from Greek empuēma abscess, from empuein to suppurate, from puon pus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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empyema
(ĕm′pī-ē′mə)- The presence of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.