embolus
/ˈɛmbələs/ noun
Forms emboli emboluses
- noun (pathology) An obstruction causing an embolism: a blood clot, air bubble or other matter carried by the bloodstream and causing a blockage or occlusion of a blood vessel.
- noun (zoology) The structure on the end of the palp of male arachnids which contains the opening to the ejaculatory duct.
Etymology
The term was coined in 1848 by Rudolf Virchow From Latin embolus (“piston”), from Ancient Greek ἔμβολος (émbolos, “peg, stopper”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Something inserted, as a wedge; the piston or sucker of a pump or syringe.
- noun A plug of some substance lodged in a blood vessel, being brought thither by the blood current. It consists most frequently of a clot of fibrin, a detached shred of a morbid growth, a globule of fat, or a microscopic organism.
Etymology [L., fr. Gr. Emblem.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “embolus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details