apheresis

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apheresis

/əˈfɪəɹɪsɪs/ UK
/əˈfɛɹəsɪs/ US
/ˌæfəˈɹisɪs/ US

Where it comes from

From Latin aphaeresis, from Ancient Greek ἀφαίρεσις (aphaíresis, “a taking away”), from ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō) (from ἀφ- (aph-), variant of ἀπό (apó, “off, away from”) before an aspirated vowel) + αἱρέω (hairéō, “to take; to snatch”)) + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns of action); the grammatical sense developed in Latin.

noun aphereses · aphaeresis · aphæresis

Canada, US, countable, rhetoric, uncountable Elision, suppression, or complete loss of a letter or sound (syllable) from the beginning of a word, such as the development of special from especial.
Similar: pheresis, procope
Canada, US, countable, specific, uncountable The removal of blood from a patient, and the removal of certain components (such as platelets) from that blood, followed by the transfusion of the filtered blood back to the donor (patient).
Similar: pheresis, hemapheresis
Canada, US, countable, general, obsolete, uncountable Extirpation or extraction of a superfluity (especially a pathological one) from the body, especially blood.

Translations

Every language

noun loss of letters or sounds from the beginning of a word

Español	aféresis
한국어	체외채혈 che-oechaehyeol
Português	aférese
Français	aphérèse
Deutsch	Aphärese, Aphäresis
Italiano	aferesi
Ελληνικά	αφαίρεση afaíresi
Română	afereză
Русский	афере́з aferéz

noun medicine: removal, filtering and returning of blood

Português	aférese
Français	aphérèse
Deutsch	Apherese
Italiano	aferesi

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Cite this

MLA

"apheresis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/apheresis. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

apheresis. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/apheresis

Chicago

"apheresis." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/apheresis.

BibTeX

@misc{apheresis_2026,
  title = {apheresis},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/apheresis},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}