-haemia

The combining form -haemia is used like a suffix to denote an abnormal blood condition, especially the presence of a certain kind of substance in the blood that causes disease. It is used in many medical terms, especially in pathology.

The form -haemia ultimately comes from the Greek haîma, meaning “blood.” The combining form -aemia is a variant of -emia and is chiefly used in British English.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use –emia article.

Historically, -haemia has been written as -hæmia, featuring a ligature of the a and e.

The Greek root haîma is the same Greek root that gives us the combining form hemo- meaning “blood,” as in hemoblast. Variants of hemo- (and closely related to -haemia) are haem-, haema-, haemo-, haemat-, haemato-, hem-, hema-, hemat-, and hemato-. Learn more about their specific applications at our Words That Use articles for the forms.

Microcythaemia, also known as microcytosis, involves an abnormal increase in microcytes, which are abnormally small red blood cells.

The microcyt- part of the words refers to microcytes. The -haemia part of the word refers to a blood condition. Microcythemia has a literal sense of “a blood condition concerning small red blood cells.”

What are some words that use the combining form -haemia?

• microcythaemia
• oligocythaemia
• polycythaemia
• thrombocythaemia

What are some other forms that -haemia may be commonly confused with?

• -phony
• chemi-
• hemi-
• homeo-

Other words may end in the letters -emia, such as aphemia and Bohemia, but are not using -emia or its variants as a combining form to denote a blood condition. Learn their meanings and origins at our entries for the words.

A thrombocyte is also known as a platelet, a type of blood cell that is important for clotting blood.

Based on the meaning of thrombocyte and -haemia, what does the medical condition thrombocythaemia involve?