The story
From phreno- + spasm, from Ancient Greek φρήν (phrḗn, “diaphragm”) and σπασμός (spasmós, “spasm, convulsion”) respectively.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
phrenospasm
Today it means: A blow to the chest which causes the diaphragm to go into spasm, making it difficult to draw a breath. Full definition →