laryngitis

/ˈlɛrənˌdʒaɪdɪs/

/lɛrɪnˈdʒaɪtɪs/

If your throat is very sore and your voice is hoarse, you may have laryngitis. Laryngitis happens when the larynx gets red, painful, and swollen.

Some people temporarily lose the ability to speak at all when they get laryngitis, while others can only talk in a hoarse whisper. Laryngitis has many different causes, some of which can be spread between people, like the flu, and others which can't, like allergies or simply talking too long or loudly. Laryngitis is a medical Latin term that combines larynx, "the upper windpipe" in Greek, and -itis, "inflammation."

Definitions of laryngitis

1. noun

   inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx; characterized by hoarseness or loss of voice and coughing
   type of:

   inflammation, redness, rubor

   a response of body tissues to injury or irritation; characterized by pain and swelling and redness and heat