Vasoconstrictor

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A substance or drug that causes blood vessels to become narrower, reducing their diameter and blood flow
2. An agent that induces tightening of blood vessel walls, leading to decreased vessel size and restricted circulation
3. Any compound or factor that constricts blood vessels, diminishing their width and limiting the volume of blood passing through

Etymology: "Vasoconstrictor" is a modern scientific compound, built from two parts with very different histories. The first part, "vaso-", comes from Latin "vas", meaning "vessel" or "container", a word that has given English "vase" and "vascular". The second part, "constrictor", is a Latin agent form of "constringere", "to draw tight", made from "con-" (together) and "stringere" (to bind or draw tight). English already had "constrict" and "constrictor" before this word appeared, so "vasoconstrictor" simply joins the existing stem to the classical "vaso-" prefix. The result is a term for something that tightens blood vessels, which in turn narrows the channels that blood flows through. Its literal sense, "vessel-tightener", is transparent once the parts are known. Because it is a coinage, it was not used by the ancient Romans or Greeks, who had no concept of drugs acting on blood vessels; the word belongs to the age of modern pharmacology and physiology.

Synonyms: constrictor, narrowing agent

Antonyms: vasodilator