haemorrhage
UK[ˈhemərɪdʒ]US[ˈhemərɪdʒ]
n
a severe loss of blood from a damaged blood vessel, either inside the body or from a wound.
v
to lose a large amount of blood from a damaged blood vessel.
v
to be lost or expended rapidly and in large quantities, especially of something valuable.
Morpheme Breakdown
haemo
rrhage
haemo
blood
rrhage
bursting forth
Etymology
the word 'haemorrhage' is a direct borrowing from latin 'haemorrhagia', which itself was adopted from greek 'haimorrhagia'. this greek term is a compound of 'haima' (blood) and a derivative of 'rhēgnynai' (to burst forth). the literal meaning, "a bursting forth of blood," perfectly captures the medical event of internal or external bleeding. over time, the term's usage expanded metaphorically beyond physiology to describe any rapid and copious loss, such as a financial haemorrhage, while retaining its core sense of uncontrolled outflow.
Analysis
Structure: haemo (blood) + rrhage (bursting forth)
haemo originates from greek 'haima', meaning 'blood'. rrhage originates from greek 'rhēgnynai', meaning 'to burst, break'.
Examples
the patient suffered a massive cerebral haemorrhage.
the company continues to haemorrhage money due to poor management.
efforts to stem the haemorrhage of skilled workers from the industry have so far failed.