What does "byssinosis" mean?

A lung disease, caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated working environments.

How do you pronounce "byssinosis"?

Pronounced //ˌbɪsɪˈnəʊsɪs//.

Common synonyms include: brown lung, brown lung, brown lung disease, brown lung disease, monday fever, monday fever.

//ˌbɪsɪˈnəʊsɪs// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A lung disease, caused by exposure to cotton dust in inadequately ventilated working environments. uncountable, usually

From Late Latin byssinum (“linen cloth”) via Latin byssus + New Latin -osis.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.