Otolaryngology or ENT (ear, nose, and throat) is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the head and neck.

The full name of the specialty is otorhinolaryngology; (neoclassical Greek and modern Greek: ὠτο(ρ)ρινολαρυγγολογία), also includes ῥινο- - rhino- (root of ῥίς) "nose". The term comes from the Classical Greek roots ὠτ- - ot- (root of οὖς) "ear", λαρυγγ- - laryng- (root of λάρυγξ) "larynx/throat", and the root -logy "study", and it literally means "the study of ear and throat".

Practitioners are called and professionally designated by the more accurate term otolaryngologists– head and neck surgeons, as specialists trained in otolaryngology are experts in surgical conditions of the head and neck. Some people refer to it simply as head and neck surgery. In the United States, otolaryngology is one of the most competitive specialties in medicine in which to obtain a residency position following medical school.

Otolaryngologists are medical doctors (MD, DO, MBBS, MBChB, etc.) who, in the United States, complete at least five years of surgical residency training. This is composed of one year in general surgical training and four years in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery; in the past it varied between two and three years of each. In Canada, practitioners complete a five-year residency training after medical school.