Vasodilator

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A chemical agent that promotes the widening of blood vessels, leading to improved blood flow and reduced vascular resistance
2. A substance that facilitates the relaxation of smooth muscle in blood vessel walls, resulting in expanded vessel diameter and increased circulation
3. A compound that causes blood vessels to expand by relaxing their muscular walls, allowing more blood to flow through

Etymology: The word is a modern scientific coinage, assembled from two parts that each carry a long history of their own. "Vaso-" comes from Latin "vas," meaning "vessel" or "container," the same root behind "vase" and, through Latin "vasculum," the idea of a small vessel. The Greek combining form "-o-" links it into compounds. "Dilator" comes from Latin "dilatare," to spread out or widen, which passed into English through Old French "dilater" and Middle English "dilaten," and it gave English "dilate" in the sense of making something wider. The suffix "-or" is an agent ending, borrowed through Middle English "-our" from Old French "-eor" and ultimately from Latin "-tor," which marks the doer of an action. So a dilator is literally a thing that widens, and a vasodilator is a thing that widens vessels. The compound follows the pattern of many English technical terms built from classical parts, so it is a deliberate construction rather than a word that drifted through everyday speech.

Synonyms: dilator, relaxant, expander, widening agent, blood vessel relaxant