pneumonia

IPA/njuːˈməʊniə/
KK[numˈonjə]IPA/nuːˈməʊniə/

pneumonia — noun

1. a serious lung illness, typically the result of a bacterial or viral infection,

1.nounB2
Definition

a serious lung illness, typically the result of a bacterial or viral infection, in which the small air spaces inside the lungs fill with fluid so that breathing becomes painful and slow.

Example

Soraya was rushed to hospital with pneumonia after coughing for two weeks.

rushed to hospital with pneumonia — typical hospital-admission collocation

The doctor heard crackling sounds in Reuben's chest and suspected pneumonia.

suspected + pneumonia — diagnostic context

Common collocations
  • catch pneumonia
  • develop pneumonia
  • suffer from pneumonia
  • die from pneumonia
  • recover from pneumonia
  • viral / bacterial pneumonia
  • severe pneumonia
  • diagnosed with pneumonia
Synonyms
  • lung infection

    everyday descriptive term; less specific than pneumonia

  • chest infection

    common British English label, often used for milder cases before a doctor confirms pneumonia

  • bronchopneumonia

    medical subtype where infection starts in the small airways; narrower than pneumonia

Grammar Patterns

catch / develop / suffer from + pneumonia

Usage Note

Uncountable in almost all uses; do not say 'a pneumonia' or 'pneumonias'. The verbs that go with it are catch, get, develop, suffer from, die from, and recover from.

Common Mistakes

I had a pneumonia last winter.
I had pneumonia last winter.
pneumonia is uncountable, so no 'a' and no plural.
She is sick of pneumonia.
She is sick with pneumonia.
the preposition that names the cause of an illness is 'with', not 'of'.
Idioms

catch pneumonia

idiom

to become very ill, especially because you have stayed outside in the cold or wet for too long; often said as a warning rather than an actual diagnosis.

Put a coat on, Ari, or you'll catch pneumonia standing at the bus stop in this rain.

Grandma always warns the children that bare feet on cold tiles will make them catch pneumonia.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe illness inside the respiratory system, but they sit at different levels of precision. Pneumonia is the specific medical name for inflammation of the lung tissue itself, usually serious enough to need antibiotics or hospital care. Lung infection is a broader, everyday term that a doctor may use before tests confirm exactly which condition is present. Chest infection is especially common in British English and often covers milder, shorter illnesses where the lungs themselves may not yet be inflamed. Bronchitis names a different illness: the inflammation sits in the airways leading to the lungs, not in the lung tissue, and recovery is usually faster. So a learner can think of pneumonia as the most precise and most serious word in this group.

pneumonia ↗lung infectionchest infectionbronchitis

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pneumonia vaccine
  • pneumonia symptoms
  • pneumonia outbreak
  • pneumonia case

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a bout of pneumonia
  • a case of pneumonia
  • double pneumonia
  • walking pneumonia

Prepositions

  • with pneumonia
  • from pneumonia
  • of pneumonia

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Borrowed into English in the late 1500s from New Latin pneumonia, which was taken from Greek pneumonia meaning 'illness of the lungs'. The Greek base pneumon (lung) is itself related to pnein, 'to breathe', so the word has always carried the idea of disordered breathing.