hema-

Hema- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “blood.” It is used in some medical terms, especially in pathology.

Hema- comes from the Greek ��î����, meaning “blood.”

Hema- is a rare variant of hemo-. The spelling haema- is chiefly used in British English.

Want to know more? Read our Words That Use hemo- �����پ�������.��

Hema- and haema- are two of the many variants of the combining form hemo-. Others are hem-, hemato-, and hemat-.

As with haema-, all of these combining forms are often spelled with an additional a in British English, as in haem-, haemo-, haemat-, and haemato-. Historically, these forms have been spelled with a ligature of the a and e, as in �����-.

Also closely related to hema- are -aemia, -emia, -haemia, and -hemia, which are combined to the ends of words to denote blood conditions.

You can learn all about the specific applications for each of these forms at our Words That Use articles for them.

One example of a medical term that features the combining form hema- is hemacytometer, also known as a hemocytometer, meaning “an instrument for counting blood cells.”

The hema- part of hemacytometer means “blood.” The second part of the word, cyto-, is a combining form that means “cell.” The final part of the word, -meter, means “measure.” Hemacytometer literally translates to “blood cell measurer.” (A hemocyte is a technical term for a blood cell.)

������ are some words that use the combining form hema-?

• hemachromatosis
• hemafibrite
• hematherm

������ are some other forms that hema- may be commonly confused with?

• chemi–
• chemo-
• chromato-
• hemangio-
• hemi-
• homo-
• homeo-
• stomato-

The combining form -therm means “hot, heat.” An animal described as a hematherm would be:

A. cold-blooded

B. warm-blooded