What does deglutition mean?
Deglutition is the formal, technical term for the act of swallowing — the coordinated process by which food or liquid travels from the mouth, through the pharynx and oesophagus, into the stomach. Far from being a single motion, it is typically described in three phases: oral, pharyngeal, and oesophageal, involving more than twenty muscles and precise neural control. The word belongs almost entirely to medical, anatomical, and scientific registers; clinicians speak of 'impaired deglutition' or assess 'difficult deglutition' in patients recovering from strokes or neurological disorders. In everyday conversation, 'swallowing' serves perfectly well, but deglutition lends precision and authority to clinical discussion. Derived from Latin roots shared with words like 'glutton' and 'gullet', it is a useful term for anyone reading medical literature or studying human physiology.
nounThe act or process of swallowing; the passage of food or liquid from the mouth through the pharynx and oesophagus into the stomach.
- The physiological act of swallowing, especially considered in its stages (oral, pharyngeal, and oesophageal); chiefly used in medicine, anatomy, and formal writing.
"The stroke patient's impaired deglutition required careful assessment by a speech therapist."
"Normal deglutition involves over twenty muscles acting in rapid, coordinated sequence."
"The textbook devoted an entire chapter to the neurology of deglutition."
Rarely pluralised; the word normally appears as an uncountable mass noun referring to the process in general. A plural would only occur when counting individual acts of swallowing in technical descriptions.
"The study recorded hundreds of deglutitions per day using wearable sensors."
Every swallow you take is a precisely choreographed three-phase event called deglutition — and it's so automatic that you only notice it when it fails.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deglutition
Deglutition derives from the Latin verb 'degutire', meaning to swallow down, formed from 'de-' (down) and 'guttire' (to swallow), which itself relates to 'gula', the throat or gullet. The word entered English in the early modern period, by the seventeenth century, as learned medical vocabulary drawn directly from Latin. It shares its root with 'glutton' and 'gluttony' (via Old French from the same Latin stem) and with 'gullet'.
How deglutition is actually used
Deglutition is a formal, technical term belonging mainly to medical, anatomical, and scientific registers; in everyday speech and general writing, 'swallowing' is the natural choice. It carries no figurative or emotional connotation.
Easily confused with deglutition
Agglutination refers to the clumping together of particles such as cells or the joining of words morphologically, whereas deglutition means simply the act of swallowing.