- the US spelling of oesophagus
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
e•soph•a•gus /ɪˈsɑfəgəs/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -gi
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- /-ˌdʒaɪ, ˌgaɪ/.USA pronunciation
- Anatomya muscular tube that allows food to pass from the back of the mouth to the stomach;
gullet.
e•soph•a•gus
(i sof′ə gəs, ē sof′-),USA pronunciation n., pl. -gi (-jī′, gī′).USA pronunciation [Anat., Zool.]
- Anatomy, Zoologya muscular passage connecting the mouth or pharynx with the stomach in invertebrate and vertebrate animals;
gullet.
- Medieval Latin
- Greek oisophágos gullet, literally, channel for eating (oiso-, akin to oísein, future infinitive of phérein to carry + -phagos eating); replacing Middle English ysophagus
- Neo-Latin oesophagus
- 1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
esophagus /iːˈsɒfəɡəs/ n ( pl -gi /-ˌdʒaɪ/, -guses)
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
oesophagus, US esophagus /iːˈsɒfəɡəs/ n ( pl -gi /-ˌɡaɪ/)
- the part of the alimentary canal between the pharynx and the stomach; gullet
'esophagus' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
oesophagus
- achalasia
- cardia
- cardiospasm
- crop
- dilatation
- esophageal
- foregut
- gastroscope
- gullet
- heartburn
- hiatus hernia
- peptic ulcer
- pharynx
- probang
- throat
- weasand
- stromateid
- swallow
