"presence of air in the pleural cavity," 1821, from French pneumothorax (1803), coined by French physician Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (1774-1838) from Greek pneumon "lung" (see pneumo-) + thorax.
Entries linking to pneumothorax
pneumo-
before vowels pneum-, word-forming element meaning "lung," from Greek pneumōn "lung," altered (probably by influence of pnein "to breathe") from pleumōn (which was an alternative form in Attic), literally "floater," probably cognate with Latin pulmo "lung(s)," from PIE root *pleu- "to flow." The notion perhaps is from the fact that, when thrown into a pot of water, lungs of a slaughtered animal float, while the heart, liver, etc., do not (compare Middle English lights "the lungs," literally "the light (in weight) organs"). Greek pneumōn also meant "jellyfish, medusa," "perhaps from its rhythmical pulsation, as if breathing" [Thompson].
thorax n.
"chest of the body," late 14c., from Latin thorax "the breast, chest; breastplate," from Greek thōrax (genitive thōrakos) "breastplate, chest," of unknown origin.