Which term is derived from Greek meaning 'to pour out'?

• A. Ecchymosis
• B. Hematoma
• C. Hemorrhage
• D. Aneurysm

Answer: (A)

Etymology links words to what they describe, and this term literally carries the idea of spilling or leaking. Ecchymosis comes from the Greek ekkhymosis, which means “to pour out” of fluids, describing blood that has escaped from vessels into surrounding tissue and shows up as a bruise. That direct sense of blood pouring into tissues fits the concept in the question. Clinically, ecchymosis is a bruise due to leakage of blood after minor injury. By comparison, a hematoma is a collected pool of blood outside vessels, hemorrhage is bleeding from a vessel or body cavity, and an aneurysm is a bulging, weakened section of a vessel—concepts related to bleeding or vascular change but not the same literal root meaning.