Pyaemia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A pathological state marked by pus-producing bacteria circulating in the blood
2. A serious ailment involving the presence of infectious bacteria in the bloodstream that results in pus production
3. A medical condition where bacteria in the bloodstream lead to the development of pus in tissues

Etymology: Pyaemia is a compound built from two Greek elements that are each familiar in medicine. The first, "púon", meant pus, and it reaches English through the Latin combining form "pyo-". The second, "haîma", meant blood, and in compounds its initial breathing mark was lost, which is why the ending appears as "-aemia" with no initial "h". The "-ia" suffix is the ordinary ending used to name medical conditions. Before the vowel of "aemia" the prefix shortens to "py-", producing the spelling we see. The word was coined in New Latin, the scholarly Latin of early modern and modern science, and English borrowed it from there. Because the parts are transparent, a reader can work out the meaning from the pieces: pus in the blood. The term is a technical coinage built from classical roots, not a word the ancient Greeks or Romans would have used for this condition.