Acanthocytes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Abnormal red blood cells covered with irregular, thorn-like projections of varying length, often seen in certain inherited or acquired disorders
2. Misshapen erythrocytes bearing several spiky surface extensions, a feature that can signal serious liver or metabolic conditions
3. Spiked red cells that appear under the microscope with uneven, pointed protrusions distributed irregularly across their membranes

Etymology: Acanthocytes are red blood cells that have sprouted several irregular, thorn-like projections, a condition that usually signals a problem with the cell membrane or with the lipids that compose it. The name is a plain piece of Greek construction: "akantha" meant "thorn" or "spine," and "kytos" meant a hollow vessel, which came to mean "cell" once biologists adopted it. Joined together, the two parts describe exactly what a microscopist sees under the lens. The plural form, "acanthocytes," simply names more than one of these cells. The singular, "acanthocyte," is built the same way, so the word's history is that of its two Greek halves rather than of any separate older term.