anemic

The word 'anemic' is a modern English formation derived from the medical term 'anemia', which itself originates from the Greek 'anaimia', meaning "lack of blood". The Greek components are the privative prefix 'an-' (meaning "without") and 'haima' (meaning "blood"). The spelling was adapted through Latin and French, with the 'h' dropped and the Greek root 'haim-' becoming 'aem-' and later 'em-' or 'anem-' in English. The suffix '-ic' was added to form the adjective, creating a term that literally means "pertaining to a lack of blood", which evolved from a purely medical description to a broader metaphor for weakness, pallor, or lack of vigor.

Structure: a (without) + nem (blood) + ic (adjective suffix) a- (Greek origin, a prefix meaning "without" or "not"); -nem- (from Greek haima, meaning "blood", adapted in spelling); -ic (from Latin -icus, Greek -ikos, an adjective-forming suffix meaning "of or pertaining to").