pneumoconiosis

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UK/ˌnjuːməʊ.kəʊniˈəʊsɪs/US/ˌnuːmoʊ.koʊniˈoʊsəs/

noun

A disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of particulate matter.

UncommonScrabble 20

Meanings

nounpneumoconiosis (countable and uncountable, plural pneumoconioses)

plural pneumoconioses

  1. countableuncountablemedicineA disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of particulate matter.
    2 more examples

    Zhang Haichao was twenty-eight when he got pneumoconiosis. He was fit and well before he started working at an abrasive-materials factory in Xinmi, not far from Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, where he comes from. On the job, he inhaled a huge amount of dust every day. In the second half of 2007, he began to cough and felt short of breath.

    2012, Hsiao-Hung Pai, Scattered Sand: The Story of China's Rural Migrants, Verso Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 86

    Wu Dengfan, a 40-year-old farmer from Gulang county in Gansu who worked at a gold mine close to the Mongolian border from 1996 to 2006, had a similar experience. “We even preferred not to wear masks inside the mine, because it made breathing even more difficult,” said Wu, who has stage II pneumoconiosis. “When we finished our work and came out of the mine, each of us was completely covered in dust.”

    2018 January 13, Alice Yan, “These migrant workers helped China prosper. Now they’re dying and not getting the help they need”, in South China Morning Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2018, People & Culture

Synonyms & antonyms

nounchronic respiratory disease caused by inhaling metallic or mineral particles

Broader
respiratory diseaserespiratory illnessrespiratory disorder

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Alteration of pneumonoconiosis, after pneumo- (“lung”). Compare French pneumoconiose. By surface analysis, pneumo- + coniosis (“disease caused by the inhalation of dust”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan pneumoconiosi
  • pneumoconiosidisease of the lungs
Chinese Cantonese 肺塵埃沉着病
  • 肺塵埃沉着病disease of the lungs
Chinese Mandarin 塵肺 /尘肺 黑肺病, 塵肺病 /尘肺病
  • 塵肺 /尘肺 黑肺病 (chénfèi)disease of the lungs
  • 塵肺病 /尘肺病 (chénfèibìng)disease of the lungs
Czech pneumokonióza
  • pneumokoniózadisease of the lungs
Dutch stoflong, pneumoconiose
  • stoflongdisease of the lungs
  • pneumoconiosedisease of the lungs
Esperanto pneŭmokoniozo
  • pneŭmokoniozodisease of the lungs
Finnish pölykeuhko
  • pölykeuhkodisease of the lungs
French pneumoconiose
  • pneumoconiosedisease of the lungs
German Pneumokoniose, Staublunge
  • Pneumokoniosedisease of the lungs
  • Staublungedisease of the lungs
Greek πνευμοκονίωση
  • πνευμοκονίωση (pnevmokoníosi)disease of the lungs
Indonesian pneumokoniosis
  • pneumokoniosisdisease of the lungs
Italian pneumoconiosi
  • pneumoconiosidisease of the lungs
Japanese 塵肺, 肺塵症
  • 塵肺disease of the lungs
  • 肺塵症 (haijinshō)disease of the lungs
Korean 진폐, 진폐증
  • 진폐 (jinpye)disease of the lungs
  • 진폐증 (jinpyejeung)disease of the lungs
Latin pneumoconiosis
  • pneumoconiosisdisease of the lungs
Polish pylica, pylica płuc
  • pylicadisease of the lungs
  • pylica płucdisease of the lungs
Portuguese pneumoconiose
  • pneumoconiosedisease of the lungs
Russian пневмокониоз
  • пневмокониоз (pnevmokonioz)disease of the lungs
Spanish neumoconiosis
  • neumoconiosisdisease of the lungs
Swedish pneumokonios, dammlunga
  • pneumokoniosdisease of the lungs
  • dammlungadisease of the lungs
Turkish pnömokonyoz
  • pnömokonyozdisease of the lungs
Cite this entry
APA

pneumoconiosis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pneumoconiosis

MLA

“pneumoconiosis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pneumoconiosis. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pneumoconiosis,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pneumoconiosis.

Source: pneumoconiosis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.