phlegm.
One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus.
Meaning & usage
One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus.
Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing.
A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution.
Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from φλέγειν (phlégein, “to burn”). Possible burning sensation when coughing up phlegm. Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots. The regularly developed form /fliːm/ has been displaced by a pronunciation /flɛm/ of uncertain provenance. It may be inherited, though some kind of learned or spelling pronunciation or influence from phlegmatic is also conceivable.
Try it on your idea.
phlegm has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.