Normotensive

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having blood pressure within the normal or healthy range
2. Maintaining blood pressure that aligns with established healthy standards indicates a state of normal circulation
3. Exhibiting blood pressure levels that fall within the accepted healthy boundaries

Etymology: "Normotensive" is built from two parts: "normo-", a combining form from Latin "normalis" meaning "according to the rule" or "normal", and "tensive", from "tension," which comes from Latin "tensus," the past participle of "tendere," meaning "to stretch." Put together, the word describes something stretched to its usual, expected degree. The usage the word is most often put to is medical. In blood pressure measurement, a person is called normotensive when their readings fall within the normal range, as opposed to hypotensive (too low) or hypertensive (too high). The three words share the same "-tensive" element and differ only in the prefix that sets the direction of deviation from normal.