ecchymosis

English

WOTD – 7 March 2009

Etymology

From New Latin ecchymōsis, from Ancient Greek ἐκχύμωσις (ekkhúmōsis), from ἐκχέω (ekkhéō, “I pour out”), from ἐκ- (ek-, “out”) + χέω (khéō, “I pour”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɛk.ɪˈməʊ.sɪs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɛk.ɪˈmoʊ.sɪs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

ecchymosis (countable and uncountable, plural ecchymoses)

1. A skin discoloration caused by bleeding underneath the skin, especially one that is remote from a site of trauma or caused by a nontraumatic process (such as neoplasia).
   • 1978, Benjamin Walker, Encyclopedia of Metaphysical Medicine, Routledge, page 273:

     A diseased condition of the skin has often been mistaken for stigmatic marks. Such, for instance, is ecchymosis, a discoloration of the skin due to the extravasation of subcutaneous blood.

Synonyms

• bruise (differentiated in some terminologies)

Hypernyms

• hematoma

Translations

skin discoloration — see bruise

leaking of blood into the tissues of the body as a result of a bruise

• Bulgarian: синина (bg) f (sinina)
• Catalan: equimosi (ca) f
• Czech: ekchymóza f
• Finnish: ihonalainen verenvuoto
• French: ecchymose (fr)
• Russian: экхимо́з m (ekximóz)
• Spanish: equimosis f
• Tagalog: pasa