This week's theme
Words and Medicine

This week's words
apheresis
syncope
aspirate
prolepsis
agglutinate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(for 1: uh-FER-i-sis, for 2: af-uh-REE-sis)

MEANING:

noun:
1. The loss of one or more sounds or letters from the beginning of a word. For example, the change in pronunciation of knife from (k-nyf) to (nyf) or the use of 'til for until.
2. A method in which blood is drawn from a donor, one or more blood components (such as plasma, platelets, or white blood cells) are removed, and the rest is returned to the donor by transfusion.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin aphaeresis, from Greek aphairesis (taking away), from aphairein (to take away), from apo- (away) + hairein (to take). Earliest documented use: 1550.

USAGE:

"Williams gives the Narragansett word in full [poquauhock], though common usage reduced it and Anglicized it through apheresis [to quahog]."
Ray Huling; Harvesting the Bay; Lyons Press; 2012.

"He had quartered in Memphis with Cynthia for weeks, giving over his stem cells through apheresis."
Jan Karon; In the Company of Others; Viking; 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: