Hemophagocytic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or denoting a pathological condition involving the engulfing and destruction of blood cells by certain immune cells; describing the process by which macrophages consume blood cell components; pertaining to a disorder characterized by excessive activation of immune cells leading to blood cell phagocytosis
2. Connected to an abnormal immune response where specific white blood cells ingest red or other blood cells; referring to the phenomenon of blood cell consumption by macrophages; associated with a syndrome marked by immune-mediated blood cell degradation
3. Pertaining to the medical condition involving immune cells that engulf blood elements; describing the activity of phagocytic cells targeting blood cells; related to a disease process with hyperactive immune cell behavior causing blood cell destruction

Etymology: Hemophagocytic is a modern medical coinage, built in English from Ancient Greek parts. Its core is "haima", Greek for "blood", which English scientists shaped into the combining form "haemo-", later spelled "hemo-" in American usage. The second element comes from "phagein", "to eat", the source of "phagocyte", a cell that engulfs and digests material. A hemophagocyte is therefore a cell that eats blood cells, and the adjective describes the condition in which such cells are abnormally active. The ending "-ic" is the familiar adjective suffix, traced back through Latin "-icus", Old French "-ique", and Middle English "-ik" to an ancient Indo-European form. It turns the noun "hemophagocyte" into a descriptive term, so the word means "relating to hemophagocytes."

Synonyms: phagocytic, blood cell engulfing