Etymology

orthopnoea

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Today it means: Shortness of breath when lying flat, causing the person to have to sleep propped up in bed or sitting in a chair. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ὀρθόπνοια
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · borrowed fromὀρθόπνοια“breathing only in an upright posture”
  2. English todayorthopnoea

From ortho- + -pnoea, from Ancient Greek ὀρθόπνοια (orthópnoia, “breathing only in an upright posture”), from ὀρθός (orthós, “straight”) + πνοή (pnoḗ, “breath”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.