Stomach "mouth". The words "gastro-" and "gastric" (meaning related to the stomach) are both derived from the Greek word "gaster" (, meaning "belly"). Although the precise shape and size of the stomach varies widely among different vertebrates, the relative positions of the oesophageal and duodenal openings remain relatively constant. As a result, the organ always curves somewhat to the left before curving back to meet the pyloric sphincter. However, lampreys, hagfishes, chimaeras, lungfishes, and some teleost fish have no stomach at all, with the oesophagus opening directly into the anus. These animals all consume diets that either require little storage of
Stomach rumble of but not actually within the stomach). The lack of bowel sounds is indicative of ileus, intestinal obstruction, or some other serious pathology. The scientific name borborygmus is related to the 16th-century French word "borborygme", itself from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek βορβορυγμός ("borborygmós"). The Greeks probably onomatopoetically coined the word. Other causes of stomach rumbles: The word borborygmic has been used in literature to describe noisy plumbing. In "", Vladimir Nabokov wrote: "All the toilets and waterpipes in the house had been suddenly seized with borborygmic convulsions". In "A Long Way Down" (New York: Harper, 1959, p. 54), Elizabeth