Etymologically

haemorrhagia

Etymology and origin of the Latin word haemorrhagia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
Pliny the Elder
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek αἱμορραγία
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (αἷμα,ῥήγνυμι)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin haemorrhagia
English hemorrhage

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [hae̯.mɔrˈrʰa.ɡi.a][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [e.morˈraː.d͡ʒi.a][1]

Forms

haemorrhagia f (genitive haemorrhagiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek αἱμορραγία (haimorrhagía, “violent bleeding”),[2][1][3] from αἱμορραγής (haimorrhagḗs, “bleeding violently”), from αἷμα (haîma, “blood”) and ῥήγνυμι (rhḗgnumi, “to break, burst”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, uses it of bleeding, especially from the nose.[5][6] Köbler dates him 23/24–79 AD.[7]

Semantic evolution

It was a violent bleeding, a haemorrhage, and in Pliny especially a nosebleed.[2][5][6] It also appears in the Tironian notes.[6]

In medieval Latin it was a flow of blood, often in medical writers, with many spellings such as emorosagia.[8][9] English hemorrhage is recorded around 1400 as emorosogie.[4]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of nosebleeds.[5][7]
  • c. 1400 – English emorosogie, later hemorrhage, is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (medicine) A violent bleeding, a haemorrhage; a nosebleed.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Haemorrhagia.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/haemorrhagia. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·