hema-

American  

1. variant of hemo-.

   hemacytometer.

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hema- British  

combining form

1. a US variant of haemo-

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Usage

What does hema- mean? Hema- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “blood.” It is used in some medical terms, especially in pathology.Hema- comes from the Greek haîma, meaning “blood.”Hema- is a rare variant of hemo-. The spelling haema- is chiefly used in British English.Want to know more? Read our Words That Use hemo- article. Hema- and haema- are two of the many variants of the combining form hemo-. Others are hem-, hemato-, and hemat-.As with haema-, all of these combining forms are often spelled with an additional a in British English, as in haem-, haemo-, haemat-, and haemato-. Historically, these forms have been spelled with a ligature of the a and e, as in hæma-.Also closely related to hema- are -aemia, -emia, -haemia, and -hemia, which are combined to the ends of words to denote blood conditions.You can learn all about the specific applications for each of these forms at our Words That Use articles for them.