stridor

English

Etymology

From Latin strīdor (“shrill or harsh sound”), from strīdō (“make a shrill or harsh sound”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈstɹaɪdɚ/
• Rhymes: -aɪdə(ɹ)

Noun

stridor (countable and uncountable, plural stridors)

1. A harsh, shrill, unpleasant noise.
   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XXVIII.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

     But when the tilted plank let slide its freight into the sea, a second strange human murmur was heard, blended now with another inarticulate sound proceeding from certain larger sea-fowl, whose attention having been attracted by the peculiar commotion in the water resulting from the heavy sloped dive of the shotted hammock into the sea, flew screaming to the spot. So near the hull did they come, that the stridor or bony creak of their gaunt double-jointed pinions was audible.

2. (medicine) A high-pitched sound heard on inspiration resulting from turbulent air flow in the upper airway usually indicative of serious airway obstruction.
   • 1973, Oliver Sacks, Awakenings, New York: Vintage, published 1999, page 50:

     Her breath-holding increased in duration to almost a minute; her expirations became complicated by stridor, forced retching, and forced phonations ('Oouuggh!').

Derived terms

• strident
• stridulous

 

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “stridor”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

French

Noun

stridor m (plural stridors)

1. (medicine) stridor

Further reading

• “stridor”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From strīdō (“I make a shrill sound, shriek”) +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈstriː.dor/, [ˈs̠t̪riːd̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈstri.dor/, [ˈst̪riːd̪or]

Noun

strīdor m (genitive strīdōris); third declension

1. A harsh, shrill, hissing, grating, or creaking sound

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	strīdor	strīdōrēs
Genitive	strīdōris	strīdōrum
Dative	strīdōrī	strīdōribus
Accusative	strīdōrem	strīdōrēs
Ablative	strīdōre	strīdōribus
Vocative	strīdor	strīdōrēs

Descendants

• Catalan: estridor
• → English: stridor
• Italian: stridore
• Portuguese: estridor
• Romanian: stridor
• Spanish: estridor

References

• “stridor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “stridor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• stridor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• stridor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin stridor or French stridor.

Noun

stridor n (uncountable)

1. stridor

Declension

declension of stridor (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) stridor	stridorul
genitive/dative	(unui) stridor	stridorului
vocative	stridorule