What does hematopoietic mean?
Hematopoietic is a technical adjective meaning “blood-forming” and, above all, referring to the production of blood cells. In medicine and biology it describes hematopoietic tissue, especially bone marrow, as well as hematopoietic stem cells, immune-cell lineages, disorders, and growth factors. The word matters because blood is not a homogeneous fluid: red cells, platelets, and the many kinds of white cells all arise through a tightly regulated stem-cell process. Saying that a condition is hematopoietic therefore identifies it as concerning blood-cell formation or the marrow system that carries it out, rather than merely a disorder of blood flow. In clinical discussion, the term is usually formal and precise; in everyday speech, “blood-forming” conveys the same idea more plainly. Its specificity also explains why the adjective commonly appears in expressions involving stem cells, malignancies, and transplantation.
adjectiveRelating to the formation of blood, especially the production of blood cells in bone marrow. It also describes hematopoietic stem cells, tissues, disorders, and factors involved in blood-cell production.
- Relating to or involving the formation of blood cells.
"The transplant restored the patient's hematopoietic function."
"Hematopoietic stem cells can generate all the major types of blood cell."
"The researchers studied how inflammatory signals influence hematopoietic recovery after chemotherapy."
Your bone marrow is a hematopoietic factory, continually replacing worn-out blood cells with fresh ones.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hematopoietic come from?
The word was formed in scientific Latin from combining forms based on Greek haîma, “blood,” and poiētikos, “productive” or “formative,” with the meaning “forming blood.” It entered English in the 19th century alongside the developing scientific vocabulary of blood-cell production and gave rise to hematopoiesis, the noun for the process. Related formations include hematology and hemorrhage from the same Greek blood root, while poiesis and poetic belong to the Greek family of words associated with making and creation.
Related word forms
How hematopoietic is actually used
A formal, specialized term used chiefly in medicine, hematology, immunology, and biology. British literature also commonly uses the spelling haemopoietic.
Easily confused with hematopoietic
Hemopoietic is an alternative spelling of the same adjective, whereas hematogenous means originating in or carried by the blood.
Hematogenous describes something originating in or traveling through the blood, while hematopoietic describes the formation of blood cells.