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Where does the word "embolism" come from? It comes from Greek embolos, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).
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Where does the word "embolism" come from? It comes from Greek embolos, and was adopted directly into English (1600s).
Embolism’s story begins in Greek: embolos meant “a wedge, an insertion.” Literally a wedge, something thrown in, from en- (in) and ballein (to throw). It reached English by 1600s as embolism. Settled as the medical word for a blockage in a blood vessel. Today, embolism means the obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot or other blockage.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient embolos "a wedge, an insertion", literally a wedge, something thrown in, from en- (in) and ballein (to throw).
- Stage 2 · English · 1600s embolism "a blockage in a blood vessel", settled as the medical word for a blockage in a blood vessel.