Hemostases

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The processes or mechanisms that prevent and stop blood loss through the clotting of blood
2. Systems within the body that maintain blood fluidity and prevent excessive bleeding during injury
3. The physiological pathways involved in the stabilization of blood circulation following injury or trauma

Etymology: "Hemostases" is simply the plural of "hemostasis", so the story belongs to the singular. The noun is built from two Ancient Greek parts: "haima" (blood) and "stasis" (standing still, stopping, a halt). Its ancestor in Greek was "haimostasis", which meant a styptic drug, something applied to stop bleeding. The modern medical sense, the process by which bleeding is halted, grew out of that older idea of a remedy. The Greek compound was revived by physicians and scientists centuries later, when they needed precise terms for physiology. English took the word in its scientific form, keeping the Greek sense of stopping blood flow. The plural follows the Greek pattern, with "-es" replacing the singular "-is" ending, as with "crisis" and "crises" or "diagnosis" and "diagnoses".

Synonyms: stoppages, cessations, halts, interruptions, pauses