gloss(o)- Also glott(o)-.

The tongue; speech or language.

[Greek glōssa or glōtta, tongue.]

Some examples are medical terms, such as glossitis, inflammation of the tongue, and glossodynia (Greek odunē, pain), pain in it. The adjective glossopharyngeal refers to a nerve that controls both the tongue and pharynx. The glottis is the part of the larynx that contains the vocal cords.

A second group refers to a function of the tongue, the power of speech or language, for example glossolalia, the ability apparently to speak in unknown languages; glottochronology, the use of statistical techniques to date when languages diverged from their common sources; a glossary is an alphabetical list with brief explanations of terms used in a special field.

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