Hematoma

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌhiməˈtoʊmə/

Definitions

1. A localized swelling caused by accumulated blood that seeps from ruptured vessels into surrounding tissues usually occurs after trauma or injury
2. This condition refers to an abnormal collection of clotted blood outside of blood vessels, which can arise from physical injury or surgical interventions
3. A type of swelling that results from blood collecting outside blood vessels, typically due to trauma, surgical procedures, or other forms of injury

Etymology: Hematoma is built from two Greek-derived parts: "hemato-", from Greek "haima", meaning blood, and "-oma", a suffix from Greek that forms nouns for swellings and growths. Put together, the literal sense is a swelling of blood, which is exactly what the condition is: blood that has pooled and clotted outside the vessels that normally hold it. The surprise lies in the suffix. Words ending in "-oma" are so often tumours that the ending has come to suggest cancer. Carcinoma, lymphoma and melanoma all follow the pattern, and most words made with "-oma" in modern medicine name neoplasms. Hematoma is one of the few common exceptions, along with granuloma, a small inflammatory nodule that is not a cancer either. The suffix was never reserved for malignancy; it simply marks a mass or swelling.

Synonyms: blood clot, bruise