17 Official Terms for Bodily Functions You Should Know

An anatomist would inform you that your kneecap is scientifically known as the patella, your armpit as the axilla, and the small indentation above your upper lip as the philtrum. The tiny piece of cartilage covering your ear's opening is called the tragus, derived from the Greek word for a billy goat, due to the resemblance of its hair to a goat's beard.

While these terms describe external features, what about internal processes? The English language boasts a vast array of formal, medical, and archaic words for the involuntary actions and responses our bodies perform effortlessly. So, whether you're stretching after waking up or accidentally letting out a ructus or borborygmus during a crucial meeting, you'll have the perfect term to describe it.

1. Borborygmi

Originating from a Greek onomatopoeic term, borborygmus refers to the rumbling sounds in the stomach or intestines. These sounds occur as intestinal contents are moved by peristalsis, the wave-like muscle contractions. Excess gas from digestion or swallowed air can amplify these noises. Fun fact: In Tudor English, uneasy stomach rumblings were known as wambles, and feeling unwell was described as being wamble-cropped.

2. Cachinnation

A 2013 study revealed that laughter is only linked to humor about 20 percent of the time. More often, laughter serves as a social tool to express agreement, affection, comfort, or nostalgia—behaviors that predate language. A sudden burst of loud, uncontrollable laughter is termed cachinnation.

3. Cicatrization

Cicatrization describes the process of forming a cicatrix, or scar. Broadly, it encompasses the natural healing mechanisms that repair wounds, such as scab formation.

4. Deglutition

Deglutition is the formal term for the act of swallowing. It shares linguistic roots with words such as glut, glutton, and gullet.

5. Diaphoresis

Throughout history, sweating has been described with a variety of terms, including resudation, sudorification, and diaphoresis, a 17th-century word meaning 'to carry through.' Today, diaphoresis is primarily used in medical settings to describe excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis.

6. Eructation

In addition to describing a volcanic eruption, eructation is the medical term for burping, with the burp itself referred to as a ructus. The Romans used ructabundus to describe excessive or uncontrollable belching, though this term hasn't made its way into modern English.

7. Flatus

If a ructus is a burp, it’s no surprise that a flatus refers to gas moving in the opposite direction. Technically, flatus refers to the accumulation of gas in the stomach or intestines, not its release. For that, you might use the Tudor English term ventosity to describe a fart.

8. Horripilation

Horripilation translates to 'bristled hairs' and is the formal term for what is commonly known as gooseflesh or goosebumps. Another term for this is piloerection, which also refers to animals raising their hair, fur, or quills when threatened or stressed.

9. Lachrymation

Lachrymation is the scientific term for the production of tears, which originate in the lachrymal glands above the eyes and are stored in lachrymal sacs near the nose. For precision, tears are categorized into three types: basal tears, which maintain eye moisture; reflex tears, triggered by irritants; and psychic tears, resulting from emotional or mental stimuli.

10. Mastication

Mastication is the formal term for chewing. Its origins trace back to a Greek word meaning 'to gnash your teeth,' and it is linguistically linked to mandible and papier-mâché, which translates to 'chewed paper' in French.

11. Nictitation

Nictitation is the formal term for blinking or winking, derived from an ancient pre-Latin word meaning 'to incline or bend together,' much like the eyelids do. That twitching sensation in your eyelid after eye strain? It’s called a blepharospasm.

12. Obdormition

Obdormition is the technical term for the sensation of a limb 'falling asleep,' caused by nerve pressure. The tingling feeling often associated with it is properly known as paresthesia.

13. Pandiculation

Pandiculation refers to the combined actions of yawning, stretching, and joint cracking that often occur when you’re tired or just waking up. Essentially, it’s the perfect description of a Monday morning.

14. Rhinorrhoea

A runny nose is referred to as rhinorrhoea, while a nosebleed is known as epistaxis.

15. Singultus

In Latin, singultus referred to speech disrupted by sobbing or an inability to speak due to crying. English adopted the term singult in the 16th century to describe a single sob, representing a spasmodic interruption in speech, and later used singultus as a formal term for hiccups.

16. Sternutation

A sneeze or a bout of sneezing is formally known as sternutation. Anything labeled sternutatory has the effect of inducing sneezing.

17. Tussication

The Latin word tussis, meaning 'cough,' gave rise to tussication, a formal term for coughing, and pertussis, the medical term for whooping cough.