Hydremic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a state in which the blood contains an abnormally high proportion of water because the plasma is too dilute
2. Relating to a medical condition where the blood is thinned and watery due to a low concentration of red cells and solids
3. Characterizing blood that has become excessively watery, a condition marked by dilution of the circulating fluid

Etymology: "Hydremic" is simply "hydremia" with the adjective-forming suffix "-ic" added. "Hydremia" is itself built from two Greek elements: "hydor", meaning water, and "haima", meaning blood. The medical term names a condition in which the blood contains an unusually large proportion of water, so the adjective describes anything relating to that state, or a person affected by it. The word is therefore a modern technical coinage from classical Greek roots, not a term that ancient physicians used. Its pattern follows the many English medical terms that pair a Greek element for a substance with "-emia", the suffix for a condition of the blood, so a reader who knows "anemia" or "leukemia" can read "hydremic" at a glance as "watery-blooded".