The Greek word στοµαχος (gullet, oesophagus) was borrowed into Latin with the same meaning, but eventually came to mean "stomach". Already in Latin authors of the late Republic, stomachus is used in both senses. In medieval Latin, the meaning "stomach" is generally established, but the sense "gullet" occurs in learned translations from Greek. The author attempts to explain an illustrate the semantic shift by discussing some examples of the use of stomachus in Latin an Greek authors.