Etymology

methemoglobin

M3E1T1H4E1M3O1G2L1O1B3I1N1

Today it means: An oxidized form of hemoglobin, containing ferric rather than ferrous iron, that cannot transport oxygen. Full definition →

English haemoglobin ← German Globin ← Latin globus
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*me
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  3. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  4. Ancient Greekμετᾰ- (metă-)
  5. Englishmeta-
  6. Ancient Greekαἷμᾰ (haîmă)
  7. Ancient Greekαἱμο- (haimo-)
  8. Englishhaemo-
  9. Latinglobus
  10. GermanGlobin
  11. Englishglobin
  12. Englishhaemoglobin
  13. English todaymethemoglobin

From meta- + haemoglobin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.