GC: n
S: CC (last access: 10 November 2025); Nature (last access: 10 November 2025).
N: 1. erythropoiesis is a borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element.
- Etymons: erythro- comb. form, Greek ποίησις.
- The earliest known use of the noun erythropoiesis is in the 1910s.
- OED’s earliest evidence for erythropoiesis is from 1918, in American Journal of Anatomy.
2. The formation of red blood cells in blood-forming tissue. In the early development of a fetus, erythropoiesis takes place in the yolk sac, spleen, and liver. After birth, all erythropoiesis occurs in the bone marrow.
3. Production of red blood cells (erythropoiesis).
- Red cells are produced continuously in the marrow of certain bones. As stated above, in adults the principal sites of red cell production, called erythropoiesis, are the marrow spaces of the vertebrae, ribs, breastbone, and pelvis. Within the bone marrow the red cell is derived from a primitive precursor, or erythroblast, a nucleated cell in which there is no hemoglobin. Proliferation occurs as a result of several successive cell divisions. During maturation, hemoglobin appears in the cell, and the nucleus becomes progressively smaller. After a few days the cell loses its nucleus and is then introduced into the bloodstream in the vascular channels of the marrow. Almost 1 percent of the red cells are generated each day, and the balance between red cell production and the removal of aging red cells from the circulation is precisely maintained. When blood is lost from the circulation, the erythropoietic activity of marrow increases until the normal number of circulating cells has been restored.
4. Blood: erythropoiesis.
- The body process of developing red blood cells.
S: 1. OED (last access: 10 November 2025). 2. NCI (last access: 10 November 2025). 3. EncBrit (last access: 10 November 2025). 4. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 10 November 2025).
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