5 syllables: Me, nin, gi, o, ma. Stress on o.
men-in-jee-OH-muh
/mɛnɪndʒiˈoʊmə/
Meningioma is pronounced men-in-jee-OH-muh (/mɛnɪndʒiˈoʊmə/). It has five syllables (Me-nin-gi-o-ma), with the stress on "o". Meningioma is a usually benign brain tumor arising from the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It grows slowly and may cause symptoms through pressure on adjacent brain tissue. Many cases are asymptomatic for years and discovered incidentally, but some present with headaches, seizures, or focal neurological signs depending on location.
nounMeningioma is a usually benign brain tumor arising from the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It grows slowly and may cause symptoms through pressure on adjacent brain tissue. Many cases are asymptomatic for years and discovered incidentally, but some present with headaches, seizures, or focal neurological signs depending on location.
"The patient was diagnosed with a sphenoid wing meningioma after a routine MRI."
"Surgical resection is often curative for accessible meningiomas."
"Meningiomas account for a significant proportion of intracranial tumors in adults."
Break it as mə-NIN-jee-OH-muh, with primary stress on the third syllable -ji- in many speakers: /ˌmɛnɪnˈdʒiːoʊmə/ (US) or /ˌmenɪnˈdʒiːəʊmə/ (UK). The sequence includes a light schwa for the first syllable, then a clear /nɪn/ cluster, a /dʒ/ sound in -gi-, and an -oma ending where the second vowel is a long /oʊ/ or /əʊ/. Practice by isolating the -din-/ -ji--ο- segments: men-in-gee-oh-ma. You’ll hear a mildly stressed third syllable; keep the /dʒ/ affricate crisp and avoid compressing the -i- before -o-.
Common errors include flattening the /dʒ/ into a /j/ like 'mena-nee-yo-ma', and misplacing stress on the first or second syllable instead of the third. Another frequent error is pronouncing the -oma ending with a short /a/ instead of /əʊ/ or /ə/. To correct: ensure the /dʒ/ is a true affricate, keep /iː/ or /i/ quality in -gi-, and shift stress to the -gi- syllable: men-in-gee-O-ma. Record yourself and compare to the reference /ˌmɛnɪnˈdʒiːoʊmə/ to calibrate vowel length and rhythm.
In US: stress on the -gi- syllable with /ˈdʒiː/ or /ˈdʒoʊ/ depending on speaker; rhotics are common, and the -o- tends toward a clear /oʊ/. UK: similar pattern but vowels may be slightly fronter, with non-rhotic tendency in some speakers; Australian: tends to be less vowel length contrast and a more centralized first syllable but still keeps -gi- as the stressed segment. Across all, maintain the /dʒ/ sound and avoid conflating with 'meningeal' or 'meningeous' variants. IPA reference: US /ˌmɛnɪnˈdʒiːoʊmə/, UK /ˌmenɪnˈdʒiːəʊmə/, AU /ˌmenɪnˈdʒiːəʊmə/.
The challenges come from the complex consonant cluster /nɪn/ followed by the /dʒ/ affricate, plus the multi-syllable rhythm and the long -o- and -a endings. The medial -gi- often causes mispronunciation as /g/ or a softened /dʒ/; the vowel lengths in /iː/ and /oʊ/ vary by accent. Also, word stress shifts to the third syllable, which can be subtle in fast speech. Focus on articulating each segment clearly: men-in-gee-oh-ma, with the right emphasis on -gee-.
No, there are no silent letters in standard pronunciations. Every written letter corresponds to a spoken sound: /m/, /ɛ/, /n/, /ɪ/, /n/, /d/, /ʒ/, /iː/ (or /i/), /oʊ/ (or /əʊ/), /mə/. The tricky aspects are the consonant cluster /nɪn/ and the /dʒ/ before -i- and -o-, which can trip listeners who expect a simple /j/ or /g/ sequence. Practice articulating each phoneme in sequence to ensure none are elided.
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Meningioma derives from the Greek meninge, meaning the membranes (the meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord, from menos ‘membrane’ + -gynoa (a suffix related to growths). The medical term combines “meninges” with the Latin -oma, a common tumor suffix. The first element references the brain’s protective membranes (pia, arachnoid, dura), from Greek mythology and anatomy roots in classical Greek medical vocabulary. The term entered English through early 20th-century neurology and pathology literature as imaging and histology clarified tumor origins. Historically, physicians distinguished meningiomas from gliomas by their meningeal origin and histology, with “meningothelial,” “fibroblastic,” and “ Transitional” subtypes described as knowledge of tumor biology advanced. The word’s usage expanded with radiologic advances (CT, MRI) enabling noninvasive diagnosis and surgical planning. First known uses appear in neurological texts circa the 1930s–1950s, aligning with the modern era of brain tumor classification and open skull surgery. The etymology reflects the lesion’s meningial origin and the standard tumor-naming convention (-oma) in medical Germanic/Latin-influenced medical terminology. As neurosurgery progressed, the term became a precise, widely recognized label for these typically meningeal neoplasms, differentiating them from intraparenchymal tumors. Historically, some early literature categorized them by location (e.g., falcine, parasagittal) before unified WHO classifications; today, molecular subtyping complements the traditional anatomical naming.
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Words that rhyme with "Meningioma"
-ge- sounds
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