empyema

American  

[em-pee-ee-muh, -pahy-] / ˌɛm piˈi mə, -paɪ- /

noun

Pathology.

1. a collection of pus in a body cavity, especially the pleural cavity.

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empyema British  

/ ˌɛmpaɪˈiːmə /

noun

1. a collection of pus in a body cavity, esp in the chest

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Other Word Forms

• empyemic adjective

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

He said she died as a result of bronchopneumonia with empyema due to invasive streptococcal infection.

From BBC

The infection had formed an abscess called an empyema, which triggered the seizures.

From Washington Post

The first, published this week in Pediatrics, looked at pneumonia, sinusitis and empyema hospitalizations in children under 5 in Sweden’s Stockholm County between 2003 and 2012.

From Forbes

Additional confirmation of the fact that Hippocrates was familiar with the phenomena of these diseases may be found in his dissertation on empyema and fevers.

From Project Gutenberg

He resisted this very well, but eventually died rather suddenly of an empyema.

From Project Gutenberg