Anemia
/əˈniːmiə/noun
A condition in which the blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin.
Did you know?The term was coined in modern medical Latin from Greek an- (“without”) + haima (“blood”), and that same haima root also gave English words like hematology and hemoglobin.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₁ésh₂m̥
“blood”
Ancient Greek
Greek
haîma (αἷμα)
“blood”
Ancient Greek
Greek
an- + haima
“without blood”
19th Century
French/Medical Latin
anémie
“a medical condition marked by a deficiency of blood or blood quality”
Modern English
English
anemia
“a deficiency of healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin”
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