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hemorrhage

Etymology and origin of the English word hemorrhage

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhɛm(ə)ɹɪd͡ʒ/[1]

Etymology

It is a 17th-century reformation, after French hémorrhagie, of inherited from Middle English emorogie,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French emoragie,[2][3] from Latin haemorrhagia,[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek αἱμορραγία (haimorrhagía),[2][3][4][5] from αἱμορραγής (haimorrhagḗs) “bleeding violently”,[4] from αἷμα (haîma) “blood” and ῥηγνύναι (rhḗgnūnai) “to break, burst”.[3][4] See hemo- and -rrhagia.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A copious discharge of blood (probably before 1425 in Barnhart; c. 1400 in Etymonline, as emorogie).[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The modern form hemorrhage (British haemorrhage) dates from 1671.[3][5][4] The verb, to bleed heavily, is recorded by 1882 in Etymonline and 1928 in Merriam-Webster;[4][5] in 1906 a London hospital chairman still objected to “haemorrhaging” as slang in medical reports.[4] The figurative senses, a rapid and uncontrollable loss of something valuable, as in a financial hemorrhage, and the verb to hemorrhage money, are modern.[2][5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – emorogie, profuse bleeding.[4][3]
  • 1671 – hemorrhage.[3][5]
  • 1882 – verb, to bleed heavily.[4]
  • 1928 – first Merriam-Webster date for the verb.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An excessive discharge of blood from the blood vessels; profuse bleeding.
  2. A rapid and uncontrollable loss of something valuable, especially money or assets.

Verb

  1. To bleed copiously.
  2. To lose something valuable rapidly and in large amounts, as in hemorrhaging money.

Word family

  • hemorrhagic
  • cerebral hemorrhage
  • hematoma
  • hematology
  • hemoglobin
  • hemophilia
  • hemorrhoid
  • anemia

Usage notes

The British spelling is haemorrhage.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Hemorrhage.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/hemorrhage. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .