Dictionary Definition
blood
Noun
1 the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped
by the heart; "blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues
and carries waste products away"; "the ancients believed that blood
was the seat of the emotions"
2 the descendants of one individual; "his entire
lineage has been warriors" [syn: lineage, line, line of
descent, descent,
bloodline, blood line,
pedigree, ancestry, origin, parentage, stemma, stock]
3 the shedding of blood resulting in murder; "he
avenged the blood of his kinsmen" [syn: bloodshed, gore]
4 temperament or disposition; "a person of hot
blood"
6 people viewed as members of a group; "we need
more young blood in this organization" v : smear with blood, as in
a hunting initiation rite, where the face of a person is smeared
with the blood of the kill
User Contributed Dictionary
see Blood
English
Etymology
blod, , of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch bloed, German Blut, Swedish blod.Pronunciation
- , /blʌd/, /blVd/
-
- Rhymes with: -ʌd
Noun
- A vital liquid flowing in the bodies of many types of animals that usually conveys nutrients and oxygen. In vertebrates, it is colored red by hemoglobin, is conveyed by arteries and veins, is pumped by the heart and is usually generated in bone marrow.
- A family relationship due to birth, such as that between siblings; contrasted with relationships due to marriage or adoption. (See blood relative, blood relation, by blood.)
- In the context of "medicine|countable": A blood test or blood sample.
Derived terms
- bad blood
- blood bank
- bloodbath, blood bath
- blood blister
- blood brother
- blood diamond
- blood donor
- blood drive
- blood eagle
- bloodhound
- blood is thicker than water
- bloodless
- bloodletting
- bloodline
- bloodlust, blood lust
- bloody-minded
- blood money
- blood orange
- blood poisoning
- blood product
- blood pudding
- blood relative, blood relation
- blood sample
- blood sausage
- bloodshed
- bloodshot
- blood sport
- bloodstain
- blood-stained, bloodstained
- bloodstream
- bloodsucker
- blood test
- bloodthirsty
- blood type
- blood vessel
- bloodwood
- bloody
- bloody mary
- by blood
- cold-blooded
- first blood
- for one's blood to boil
- give blood
- have blood on one's hands
- hot-blooded
- in cold blood
- warm-blooded
Related terms
Translations
vital liquid flowing in animal bodies
- Albanian: gjak
- Aromanian:
- Belarusian: кроў
- Bosnian: krv
- Bulgarian: кръв
- CJKV Characters: 血
- Catalan: sang
- Chinese: 血液
- Croatian: krv
- Czech: krev
- Danish: blod
- Dutch: bloed
- Erzya:
- Esperanto: sango
- Estonian: veri
- Finnish: veri
- French: sang
- German: Blut
- Greek: αίμα
- Hebrew:
- Hungarian: vér
- Italian: sangue
- Japanese: 血, 血液
- Korean: 피
- Kurdish: خوێن
- Latin: sanguis
- Low Saxon: blood
- Lower Sorbian:
- Macedonian: крв
- Megleno-Romanian:
- Mongolian: цус
- Norwegian: blod
- Old
Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic:
- Glagolitic:
- Cyrillic:
- Polish: krew
- Portuguese: sangue
- Romani: rat
- Romanian: sânge
- Russian: кровь
- Serbian:
- Cyrillic: крв
- Roman: krv
- Cyrillic: крв
- Sinhalese: ලේ
- Slovak: krv
- Slovene: kri
- Spanish: sangre
- Swedish: blod
- Tagalog: dugo
- Turkish: kan
- Ukrainian: кров
- Upper Sorbian:
family relationship due to birth, e.g. between
siblings
- Albanian: gjak
- Croatian: krv, rod
- Czech: krev
- Danish: blod
- Finnish: verisukulaisuus
- French: sang
- German: Blut, Blutsbande
- Hungarian: vérrokon
- Japanese: 血縁 (けつえん)
- Korean: 혈통
- Nahuatl: eztli
- Polish: krew
- Russian: кровь
- Tagalog: kadugo, kamag-anak
- West Frisian: bloed
blood test or blood sample
- ttbc Arabic: (dimā’) p, (dam)
- Aramaic:
- ttbc Armenian: արյուն (aryun)
- ttbc Basque: odol
- ttbc Breton: gwad
- ttbc Catalan: sang
- ttbc Erzya: верь (ver)
- ttbc Guarani: uguy (t-)
- ttbc Gujarati: ખૂન (khūn) , રકત (rkta) , રુધિર (rudhir) , લોહી (lohī)
- ttbc Hawaiian: koko
- ttbc Hindi: ख़ून (khūn)
- ttbc Icelandic: blóð
- ttbc Ilocano: dara
- ttbc Indonesian: darah
- ttbc Inuktitut: ᐊᐅᒃ
- ttbc Interlingua: sanguine
- ttbc Irish: fuil
- ttbc Kalaallisut: aak
- ttbc Latin: sanguis , cruor
- ttbc Lithuanian: kraujas
- ttbc Malagasy: ra
- ttbc Maltese: demm
- ttbc Maori: toto
- ttbc Northern Sami: varra
- ttbc Old English: blōd , drēor
- ttbc Persian: (khūn)
- ttbc Portuguese: sangue
- ttbc Rohingya: rokto
- ttbc Sardinian: sambene
- ttbc Swahili: damu
- ttbc Telugu: రక్తము, నెత్తురు
- Tupinambá: ugûy (t-)
- ttbc Turkish: kan
- Tz'utujil: kik’
- ttbc Urdu: (khūn)
- ttbc Vietnamese: máu (1), thân (2)
Verb
- To cause something to be covered with blood; to bloody.
- To initiate into warfare or a blood sport.
Translations
to cause to be covered with blood
- Albanian: gjakos
- Dutch: bloeden
- German: blut
- Greek: ματώνω
- Maltese: iddemmem
- Polish: krwawić
Noun
Extensive Definition
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid
(technically a tissue).
In vertebrates it is composed of
blood
cells suspended in a liquid called blood
plasma. Plasma, which comprises 55% of blood fluid, is mostly
water (90% by volume), and contains dissolved proteins, glucose, mineral ions, hormones, carbon
dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product
transportation), platelets and blood cells
themselves. The blood cells present in blood are mainly red blood
cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes) and white
blood cells, including leukocytes and platelets (also called
thrombocytes).
The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are
red blood cells. These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which
facilitates transportation of oxygen by reversibly binding to
this respiratory gas and
greatly increasing its solubility in blood. In contrast, carbon
dioxide is almost entirely transported extracellularly dissolved in
plasma as bicarbonate ion.
Vertebrate blood is bright red when its
hemoglobin is oxygenated. Some animals, such as crustaceans and mollusks, use hemocyanin to carry oxygen,
instead of hemoglobin. Insects and some
mollusks use a fluid called haemolymph instead of blood,
the difference being that haemolymph is not contained in a closed
circulatory
system. In most insects, this "blood" does not contain
oxygen-carrying molecules such as haemoglobin because their bodies
are small enough that their tracheal
system suffices for supplying oxygen.
Jawed
vertebrates have an adaptive
immune system, based largely on white
blood cells. White blood cells help to resist infections and
parasites. Platelets are
important in the clotting of
blood. Arthropods, using
haemolymph, have haemocytes as part of their
immune
system.
Blood is circulated around the body through
blood
vessels by the pumping action of the heart. In animals having lungs, arterial blood carries oxygen
from inhaled air to the tissues of the body, and venous blood carries carbon
dioxide, a waste product of metabolism produced by
cells,
from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.
Medical terms related to blood often begin with
hemo- or hemato- (BrE:
haemo- and haemato-) from the Greek word
"αἷμα" for "blood." Anatomically and
histologically, blood
is considered a specialized form of connective
tissue, given its origin in the bones and the presence of
potential molecular fibers in the form of fibrinogen.
Functions
Blood performs many important functions within
the body including:
- Supply of oxygen to tissues (bound to hemoglobin which is carried in red cells)
- Supply of nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood or bound to plasma proteins)
- Removal of waste such as carbon dioxide, urea and lactic acid
- Immunological functions, including circulation of white cells, and detection of foreign material by antibodies
- Coagulation, which is one part of the body's self-repair mechanism
- Messenger functions, including the transport of hormones and the signaling of tissue damage
- Regulation of body pH (the normal pH of blood is in the range of 7.35 - 7.45)
- Regulation of core body temperature
- Hydraulic functions
Constituents of human blood
Blood accounts for 7% of the human body weight, with an average density of approximately 1060 kg/m³, very close to pure water's density of 1000 kg/m3. The average adult has a blood volume of roughly 5 litres, composed of plasma and several kinds of cells (occasionally called corpuscles); these formed elements of the blood are erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells) and thrombocytes (platelets). By volume the red blood cells constitute about 45% of whole blood, the plasma constitutes about 55%, and white cells constitute a minute volume.Whole blood (plasma and cells) exhibits non-Newtonian
fluid dynamics; its flow properties are adapted to flow
effectively through tiny capillary blood vessels with less
resistance than plasma by itself. In addition, if all human
hemoglobin was free in the plasma rather than being contained in
RBCs, the circulatory fluid would be too viscous for the
cardiovascular system to function effectively.
Cells
One microliter of blood contains:- 4.7 to 6.1 million (male), 4.2 to 5.4 million (female) erythrocytes: In mammals, mature red blood cells lack a nucleus and organelles. They contain the blood's hemoglobin and distribute oxygen. The red blood cells (together with endothelial vessel cells and other cells) are also marked by glycoproteins that define the different blood types. The proportion of blood occupied by red blood cells is referred to as the hematocrit, and is normally about 45%. The combined surface area of all the red cells in the human body would be roughly 2,000 times as great as the body's exterior surface.
- 4,000-11,000 leukocytes: White blood cells are part of the immune system; they destroy and remove old or aberrant cells and cellular debris, as well as attack infectious agents (pathogens) and foreign substances. The cancer of leukocytes is called leukemia.
- 200,000-500,000 thrombocytes:
Production and degradation of blood cells
In vertebrates, the various cells of blood are made in the bone marrow in a process called haematopoiesis, which includes erythropoiesis, the production of red blood cells; and myelopoiesis, the production of white blood cells and platelets. During childhood, almost every human bone produces red blood cells; as adults, red blood cell production is limited to the larger bones: the bodies of the vertebrae, the breastbone (sternum), the ribcage, the pelvic bones, and the bones of the upper arms and legs. In addition, during childhood, the thymus gland, found in the mediastinum, is an important source of lymphocytes. The proteinaceous component of blood (including clotting proteins) is produced predominantly by the liver, while hormones are produced by the endocrine glands and the watery fraction is regulated by the hypothalamus and maintained by the kidney.Healthy erythrocytes have a plasma life of about
120 days before they are degraded by the spleen, and the Kupffer
cells in the liver. The liver also clears some proteins, lipids
and amino
acids. The kidney actively secretes waste products into the
urine.
Oxygen transport
see Oxygen transportation About 98.5% of the oxygen in a sample of arterial blood in a healthy human breathing air at sea-level pressure is chemically combined with the Hgb. About 1.5% is physically dissolved in the other blood liquids and not connected to Hgb. The hemoglobin molecule is the primary transporter of oxygen in mammals and many other species (for exceptions, see below).With the exception of pulmonary
and umbilical
arteries and their corresponding veins, arteries carry oxygenated blood
away from the heart and
deliver it to the body via arterioles and capillaries, where the oxygen
is consumed; afterwards, venules and veins carry deoxygenated blood back
to the heart.
Under normal conditions in humans at rest,
hemoglobin in blood leaving the lungs is about 98-99% saturated
with oxygen. In a healthy adult at rest, deoxygenated blood
returning to the lungs is still approximately 75% saturated.
Increased oxygen consumption during sustained exercise reduces the
oxygen saturation of venous blood, which can reach less than 15% in
a trained athlete; although breathing rate and blood flow increase
to compensate, oxygen saturation in arterial blood can drop to 95%
or less under these conditions. Oxygen saturation this low is
considered dangerous in an individual at rest (for instance, during
surgery under anesthesia. Sustained hypoxia,(oxygenation of less
than 90%) is dangerous to health, and severe hypoxia (saturations
of less than 30%) may be rapidly fatal.
A fetus,
receiving oxygen via the placenta, is exposed to much
lower oxygen pressures (about 21% of the level found in an adult's
lungs) and so fetuses produce another form of hemoglobin with a
much higher affinity for oxygen (hemoglobin F) in order to function
under these conditions.
Carbon dioxide transport
When blood flows through capillaries, carbon
dioxide diffuses from the tissues into the blood. Some carbon
dioxide is dissolved in the blood. Some carbon dioxide reacts with
hemoglobin and other proteins to form carbamino compounds. The
remaining carbon dioxide is converted to bicarbonate and hydrogen
ions through the action of RBC carbonic
anhydrase. Most carbon dioxide is transported through the blood
in the form of bicarbonate ions.
Carbon dioxide (CO2), the main cellular waste
product is carried in blood mainly dissolved in plasma, in
equilibrium with bicarbonate (HCO3-) and
carbonic
acid (H2CO3). 86%-90% of CO2 in the body is converted into
carbonic
acid, which can quickly turn into bicarbonate, the chemical
equilibrium being important in the pH buffering
of plasma. Blood pH is kept in a narrow
range (pH between 7.35-7.45).
Transport of hydrogen ions
Some oxyhemoglobin loses oxygen and becomes deoxyhemoglobin. Deoxyhemoglobin binds most of the hydrogen ions as it has a much greater affinity for more hydrogen than does oxyhemoglobin.Lymphatic system
In mammals, blood is in equilibrium with lymph, which is continuously formed in tissues from blood by capillary ultrafiltration. Lymph is collected by a system of small lymphatic vessels and directed to the thoracic duct, which drains into the left subclavian vein where lymph rejoins the systemic blood circulation.Thermoregulation
Blood circulation transports heat throughout the body, and adjustments to this flow are an important part of thermoregulation. Increasing blood flow to the surface (e.g. during warm weather or strenuous exercise) causes warmer skin, resulting in faster heat loss, while decreasing surface blood flow conserves heat.Hydraulic functions
The restriction of blood flow can also be used in specialized tissues to cause engorgement resulting in an erection of that tissue; examples are the erectile tissue in the penis,nipples or clitoris.Another example of a hydraulic function is the
jumping
spider, in which blood forced into the legs under pressure
causes them to straighten for a powerful jump, without the need for
bulky muscular legs.
Invertebrates
In insects, the blood (more properly called hemolymph) is not involved in the transport of oxygen. (Openings called tracheae allow oxygen from the air to diffuse directly to the tissues). Insect blood moves nutrients to the tissues and removes waste products in an open system.Other invertebrates use respiratory proteins to
increase the oxygen carrying capacity. Hemoglobin is the most
common respiratory protein found in nature. Hemocyanin
(blue) contains copper and is found in crustaceans and mollusks. It is thought that
tunicates (sea squirts)
might use vanabins
(proteins containing
vanadium) for
respiratory pigment (bright green, blue, or orange).
In many invertebrates, these oxygen-carrying
proteins are freely soluble in the blood; in vertebrates they are
contained in specialized red blood
cells, allowing for a higher concentration of respiratory
pigments without increasing viscosity or damaging blood
filtering organs like the kidneys.
Giant tube
worms have unusual hemoglobins that allow them to live in
extraordinary environments. These hemoglobins also carry sulfides
normally fatal in other animals.
Color
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is the principal determinant of the color of blood in vertebrates. Each molecule has four heme groups, and their interaction with various molecules alters the exact color. In vertebrates and other hemoglobin-using creatures, arterial blood and capillary blood are bright red as oxygen imparts a strong red color to the heme group. Deoxygenated blood is a darker shade of red; this is present in veins, and can be seen during blood donation and when venous blood samples are taken. Blood in carbon monoxide poisoning is bright red, because carbon monoxide causes the formation of carboxyhemoglobin. In cyanide poisoning, the body cannot utilize oxygen, so the venous blood remains oxygenated, increasing the redness. While hemoglobin containing blood is never blue, there are several conditions and diseases where the color of the heme groups make the skin appear blue. If the heme is oxidized, methemoglobin, which is more brownish and cannot transport oxygen, is formed. In the rare condition sulfhemoglobinemia, arterial hemoglobin is partially oxygenated, and appears dark-red with a bluish hue (cyanosis).Veins in the skin appear blue for a variety of
reasons only weakly dependent on the color of the blood. Light
scattering in the skin, and the visual processing of color play
roles as well.
Hemocyanin
The blood of most molluscs, including cephalopods and gastropods, as well as some arthropods such as horseshoe crabs contains the copper-containing protein hemocyanin at concentrations of about 50 grams per litre. and it turns dark blue when exposed to the oxygen in the air, as seen when they bleed.. A healthy adult can lose almost 20% of blood volume (1L) before the first symptom, restlessness, begins, and 40% of volume (2L) before shock sets in. Thrombocytes are important for blood coagulation and the formation of blood clots which can stop bleeding. Trauma to the internal organs or bones can cause internal bleeding, which can sometimes be severe.-
- Dehydration can reduce the blood volume by reducing the water content of the blood. This would rarely result in shock (apart from the very severe cases) but may result in orthostatic hypotension and fainting.
- Disorders of circulation
- Shock is the ineffective perfusion of tissues, and can be caused by a variety of conditions including blood loss, infection, poor cardiac output.
- Atherosclerosis reduces the flow of blood through arteries, because atheroma lines arteries and narrows them. Atheroma tends to increase with age, and its progression can be compounded by many causes including smoking, high blood pressure, excess circulating lipids (hyperlipidemia), and diabetes mellitus.
- Coagulation can form a thrombosis which can obstruct vessels.
- Problems with blood composition, the pumping action of the heart, or narrowing of blood vessels can have many consequences including hypoxia (lack of oxygen) of the tissues supplied. The term ischaemia refers to tissue which is inadequately perfused with blood, and infarction refers to tissue death (necrosis) which can occur when the blood supply has been blocked (or is very inadequate).
Hematological disorders
seealso Hematology- Anemia
- Insufficient red cell mass (anemia) can be the result of bleeding, blood diseases like thalassemia, or nutritional deficiencies; and may require blood transfusion. Several countries have blood banks to fill the demand for transfusable blood. A person receiving a blood transfusion must have a blood type compatible with that of the donor.
- Sickle-cell anemia
- Disorders of cell proliferation
- Leukemia is a group of cancers of the blood-forming tissues.
- Non-cancerous overproduction of red cells (polycythemia vera) or platelets (essential thrombocytosis) may be premalignant.
- Myelodysplastic syndromes involve ineffective production of one or more cell lines.
- Disorders of coagulation
- Hemophilia is a genetic illness that causes dysfunction in one of the blood's clotting mechanisms. This can allow otherwise inconsequential wounds to be life-threatening, but more commonly results in hemarthrosis, or bleeding into joint spaces, which can be crippling.
- Ineffective or insufficient platelets can also result in coagulopathy (bleeding disorders).
- Hypercoagulable state (thrombophilia) results from defects in regulation of platelet or clotting factor function, and can cause thrombosis.
- Infectious disorders of blood
- Blood is an important vector of infection. HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, is transmitted through contact between blood, semen, or the bodily secretions of an infected person. Hepatitis B and C are transmitted primarily through blood contact. Owing to blood-borne infections, bloodstained objects are treated as a biohazard.
- Bacterial infection of the blood is bacteremia or sepsis. Viral Infection is viremia. Malaria and trypanosomiasis are blood-borne parasitic infections.
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Substances other than oxygen can bind to hemoglobin; in some cases this can cause irreversible damage to the body. Carbon monoxide, for example, is extremely dangerous when carried to the blood via the lungs by inhalation, because carbon monoxide irreversibly binds to hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin, so that less hemoglobin is free to bind oxygen, and less oxygen can be transported in the blood. This can cause suffocation insidiously. A fire burning in an enclosed room with poor ventilation presents a very dangerous hazard since it can create a build-up of carbon monoxide in the air. Some carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin when smoking tobacco.Medical treatments
Blood products
see Blood transfusion Blood for transfusion is obtained from human donors by blood donation and stored in a blood bank. There are many different blood types in humans, the ABO blood group system, and the Rhesus blood group system being the most important. Transfusion of blood of an incompatible blood group may cause severe, often fatal, complications, so crossmatching is done to ensure that a compatible blood product is transfused.Other blood products administered intravenously are platelets,
blood plasma, cryoprecipitate and specific coagulation factor
concentrates.
Intravenous administration
Many forms of medication (from antibiotics to chemotherapy) are administered intravenously, as they are not readily or adequately absorbed by the digestive tract.After severe acute blood loss, liquid
preparations, generically known as plasma expanders, can be given
intravenously, either solutions of salts (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 etc...)
at physiological concentrations, or colloidal solutions, such as
dextrans, human serum albumin, or fresh frozen plasma. In these
emergency situations, a plasma expander is a more effective life
saving procedure than a blood transfusion, because the metabolism
of transfused red blood cells does not restart immediately after a
transfusion.
Bloodletting
In modern evidence-based medicine bloodletting is used in management of a few rare diseases, including haemochromatosis and polycythemia. However, bloodletting and leeching were common unvalidated interventions used until the 19th century, as many diseases were incorrectly thought to be due to an excess of blood, according to Hippocratic medicine.History
Classical Greek medicine
In classical Greek medicine, blood was associated with air, springtime, and with a merry and gluttonous (sanguine) personality. It was also believed to be produced exclusively by the liver.Hippocratic medicine
In Hippocratic medicine, blood was considered to be one of the four humors, together with phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.Myths, beliefs and religion
Due to its importance to life, blood is associated with a large number of beliefs. One of the most basic is the use of blood as a symbol for family relationships; to be "related by blood" is to be related by ancestry or descendance, rather than marriage. This bears closely to bloodlines, and sayings such as "blood is thicker than water" and "bad blood", as well as "Blood brother". Blood is given particular emphasis in the Jewish and Christian religions because Leviticus 17:11 says "the life of a creature is in the blood." This phrase is part of the Levitical law forbidding the drinking of blood, due to its practice in idol worship by surrounding societies.Mythic references to blood can sometimes be
connected to the living-giving nature of blood, seen in such events
as childbirth, as
contrasted with the blood of injury or death.
Indigenous Australians
In many indigenous Australian Aboriginal peoples' traditions, ochre (particularly red) and blood, both high in iron content and considered Maban, are applied to the bodies of dancers for ritual. As Lawlor states: In many Aboriginal rituals and ceremonies, red ochre is rubbed all over the naked bodies of the dancers. In secret, sacred male ceremonies, blood extracted from the veins of the participant's arms is exchanged and rubbed on their bodies. Red ochre is used in similar ways in less secret ceremonies. Blood is also used to fasten the feathers of birds onto people's bodies. Bird feathers contain a protein that is highly magnetically sensitive. Lawlor comments that blood employed in this fashion is held by these peoples to attune the dancers to the invisible energetic realm of the Dreamtime. Lawlor then connects these invisible energetic realms and magnetic fields, because iron is magnetic.Indo-European paganism
Among the Germanic tribes (such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norsemen), blood was used during their sacrifices; the Blóts. The blood was considered to have the power of its originator and after the butchering the blood was sprinkled on the walls, on the statues of the gods and on the participants themselves. This act of sprinkling blood was called bleodsian in Old English and the terminology was borrowed by the Roman Catholic Church becoming to bless and blessing. The Hittite word for blood, ishar was a cognate to words for "oath" and "bond", see Ishara. The Ancient Greeks believed that the blood of the Gods, ichor, was a mineral that was poisonous to mortals.Judaism
In Judaism, blood cannot be consumed even in the smallest quantity (Leviticus 3:17 and elsewhere); this is reflected in Jewish dietary laws (Kashrut). Blood is purged from meat by salting and soaking in water.Other rituals involving blood are the covering of
the blood of fowl and
game after slaughtering
(Leviticus 17:13);
the reason given by the Torah is: "Because
the life of every animal is [in] his blood" (ibid 17:14).
Christianity
Some Christian churches, including Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and branches of Anglicanism teach that, when consecrated, the Eucharistic wine actually becomes the material blood of Jesus. Thus in the consecrated wine, Jesus becomes spiritually and physically present. This teaching is rooted in the Last Supper as written in the four gospels of the Bible, in which Jesus stated to his disciples that the bread which they ate was his body, and the wine was his blood. "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." ().Various forms of Protestantism, especially those
of a Wesleyan or Presbyterian
lineage, teach that the wine is no more than a symbol of the blood
of Christ, who is spiritually but not physically present. Lutheran theology
teaches that the body and blood is present
together "in, with, and under" the bread and wine of the
Eucharistic feast.
Christ's blood is also seen as the means for
atonement for sins for Christians.
At the Council
of Jerusalem, the apostles prohibited Christians
from consuming blood, probably because this was a command given to
Noah (Genesis 9:4, see
Noahide
Law). This command continued to be observed by the Eastern
Orthodox.
Islam
Consumption of food containing blood is forbidden by Islamic dietary laws. This is derived from the statement in the Qur'an, sura Al-Ma'ida (5:3): "Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah."Jehovah's Witnesses
Due to Bible-based beliefs, Jehovah's Witnesses do not eat blood or accept tranfusions of whole blood or its four major components namely, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets (thrombocytes), and whole plasma. Members are instructed to personally decide whether or not to accept fractions, and medical procedures that involve their own blood.Chinese and Japanese culture
In Chinese culture, it is often said that if a man's nose produces a small flow of blood, this signifies that he is experiencing sexual desire. This often appears in Chinese-language and Hong Kong films as well as in Japanese culture parodied in anime and manga. Characters, mostly males, will often be shown with a nosebleed if they have just seen someone nude or in little clothing, or if they have had an erotic thought or fantasy.Blood libel
Various religious and other groups have been falsely accused of using human blood in rituals; such accusations are known as blood libel. The most common form of this is blood libel against Jews. Although there is no ritual involving human blood in Jewish law or custom, fabrications of this nature (often involving the murder of children) were widely used during the Middle Ages to justify Antisemitic persecution and some have persisted into the 21st century.Vampire legends
Vampires are mythological beings which live forever by drinking the blood of the living. Stories of creatures of this kind are known all over the world. Most of these myths in Western culture originate from Eastern European folklore.Entertainment
Art
Blood is one of the body fluids that has been used in art. In particular, the performances of Viennese Actionist Hermann Nitsch, Franko B, Lennie Lee, Ron Athey, Yang Zhichao and Kira O' Reilly along with the photography of Andres Serrano, have incorporated blood as a prominent visual element. Marc Quinn has made sculptures using frozen blood, including a cast of his own head made using his own blood. Blood is also the main leitmotiv in Maligno Art.Films
Blood is commonly associated with gore in motion pictures. Films with bloody scenes tend to receive a high rating by film licensing bodies, e.g. PG 13 to X. Blood in video games has led to video game censorship.See also
References
External links
blood in Afrikaans: Bloed
blood in Arabic: دم
blood in Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE):
ܕܡܐ
blood in Min Nan: Hoeh
blood in Belarusian (Tarashkevitsa): Кроў
blood in Bavarian: Bluad
blood in Sinhala: රුධිරය
blood in Bosnian: Krv
blood in Bulgarian: Кръв
blood in Catalan: Sang
blood in Chuvash: Юн
blood in Cebuano: Dugo
blood in Czech: Krev
blood in Welsh: Gwaed
blood in Danish: Blod
blood in German: Blut
blood in Dhivehi: ލޭ
blood in Estonian: Veri
blood in Modern Greek (1453-): Αίμα
blood in Spanish: Sangre
blood in Esperanto: Sango
blood in Basque: Odol
blood in Persian: خون
blood in French: Sang
blood in Friulian: Sanc
blood in Scottish Gaelic: Fuil
blood in Galician: Sangue
blood in Korean: 혈액
blood in Croatian: Krv
blood in Indonesian: Darah
blood in Interlingua (International Auxiliary
Language Association): Sanguine
blood in Icelandic: Blóð
blood in Italian: Sangue
blood in Hebrew: דם
blood in Javanese: Getih
blood in Pampanga: Daya
blood in Georgian: სისხლი
blood in Kazakh: Қан
blood in Swahili (macrolanguage): Damu
blood in Kurdish: Xwîn
blood in Latin: Sanguis
blood in Latvian: Asinis
blood in Luxembourgish: Blutt
blood in Lithuanian: Kraujas
blood in Lingala: Makilá
blood in Hungarian: Vér
blood in Macedonian: Крв
blood in Malayalam: രക്തം
blood in Maltese: Demm
blood in Marathi: रक्त
blood in Malay (macrolanguage): Darah
blood in Min Dong Chinese: Háik
blood in Dutch: Bloed
blood in Japanese: 血液
blood in Norwegian: Blod
blood in Norwegian Nynorsk: Blod
blood in Occitan (post 1500): Sang
blood in Pushto: وينه
blood in Low German: Blood
blood in Polish: Krew
blood in Portuguese: Sangue
blood in Romanian: Sânge
blood in Quechua: Yawar
blood in Russian: Кровь
blood in Albanian: Gjaku
blood in Sicilian: Sangu
blood in Simple English: Blood
blood in Slovak: Krv
blood in Slovenian: Kri
blood in Serbian: Крв
blood in Serbo-Croatian: Krv
blood in Sundanese: Getih
blood in Finnish: Veri
blood in Swedish: Blod
blood in Tagalog: Dugo
blood in Tamil: குருதி
blood in Telugu: రక్తం
blood in Thai: เลือด
blood in Vietnamese: Máu
blood in Turkish: Kan
blood in Ukrainian: Кров
blood in Võro: Veri
blood in Vlaams: Bloed
blood in Yiddish: בלוט
blood in Contenese: 血
blood in Samogitian: Kraus
blood in Chinese: 血液
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Beau Brummel, Christmas disease,
Hand-Schuller-Christian disease, Letterer-Siwe syndrome, Rh factor,
Rh-negative, Rh-positive, Rh-type, Rhesus factor, acute leukemia,
affiliation,
agnate, agnation, alliance, ancestry, anemia, angiohemophilia,
anima, animal kingdom,
animating force, antibody, antigen, aplastic anemia,
apparentation,
aristocracy,
aristocraticalness,
arterial blood, atman,
bane, bathmism, beating heart,
beau, beverage, biological clock,
biorhythm, birth, blade, blood bank, blood cell,
blood count, blood donor, blood donor center, blood group, blood
grouping, blood picture, blood platelet, blood pressure, blood
relation, blood relationship, blood relative, blood serum, blood
substitute, bloodletting, bloodline, bloodmobile, bloodshed, bloodstream, blue blood,
boulevardier,
bracket, braining, branch, brand, breath, breath of life, breed, brood, brotherhood, brothership, buck, cast, caste, category, character, chronic leukemia,
circulation,
clan, clansman, claret, class, clinical dextran, clotheshorse, cognate, cognation, collateral, collateral
relative, color, common
ancestry, common descent, connection, connections, consanguinean, consanguinity, cousinhood, cousinship, coxcomb, cyclic neutropenia,
dandy, dealing death,
deme, denomination, derivation, descent, description, designation, destruction, destruction of
life, dextran, direct
line, dispatch, distaff
side, distant relation, distinction, divine breath,
divine spark, division,
drink, dude, elan vital, enate, enation, erythrocyte, erythrocytosis, essence
of life, estate, euthanasia, execution, exquisite, extermination, extraction, family, fashion plate, fatherhood, feather, female line, filiation, fine gentleman,
flesh, flesh and blood,
flow of blood, fluid,
fluid extract, fluid mechanics, folk, folks, fop, force of life, form, foul play, fraternity, fribble, gallant, genre, gens, genteelness, genus, german, globulin, gore, grade, grain, group, grouping, growth force,
grume, head, heading, heart, heartbeat, heartblood, hematics, hematologist, hematology, hematoscope, hematoscopy, hemocyte, hemoglobin, hemoglobinopathy,
hemometer, hemophilia, hemophilia A,
hemophilia B, homicide,
honorable descent, house,
humor, hydraulics, hydrogeology, hypochromic
anemia, ichor, ilk, immolation, impulse of life,
infectious granuloma, inspiriting force, iron deficiency anemia,
isoantibody,
jack-a-dandy, jackanapes, jiva, jivatma, juice, kidney, kill, killing, kin, kind, kindred, kinfolk, kinnery, kinsfolk, kinship, kinsman, kinsmen, kinswoman, kith and kin,
label, lady-killer,
lapidation, latex, leukemia, leukemic
reticuloendotheliosis, leukocyte, level, life breath, life cycle,
life essence, life force, life principle, life process, lifeblood, line, line of descent, lineage, liquid, liquid extract, liquor, living force, lot, lounge lizard, macaroni, macrocytic anemia,
make, male line,
man-about-town, manner,
manslaughter,
mark, martyrdom, martyrization, masher, maternity, matriclan, matrilineage, matriliny, matrisib, matrocliny, mercy killing,
milk, mold, motherhood, multiple myeloma,
myelogenous leukemia, nation, nature, near relation, neutropenia, neutrophil, next of kin,
nobility, noble birth,
nobleness, number, opsonin, order, origin, paternity, patriclan, patrilineage, patriliny, patrisib, patrocliny, pedigree, people, pernicious anemia,
persuasion, phagocyte, phratry, phyle, phylum, pigeonhole, plant kingdom,
plasma, plasma cell
leukemia, plasma substitute, plasmacytoma, pneuma, poisoning, polycythemia, position, posterity, prana, predicament, propinquity, pseudoleukemia, puppy, purpura, purpura hemorrhagica,
quality, race, rank, rating, red corpuscle, relation, relations, relationship, relatives, ritual killing,
ritual murder, royalty,
rubric, sacrifice, sap, seat of life, section, seed, semiliquid, sept, serum, set, shape, shooting, sib, sibling, sibship, sickle-cell anemia,
side, sisterhood, sistership, slaughter, slaying, sort, soul, spark, spark of life, spear kin,
spear side, species,
spindle kin, spindle side, spirit, sport, stamp, station, status, stem, stirps, stock, stoning, strain, stratum, stripe, style, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, succession, swell, sword side, taking of life,
thalassemia, the
like of, the likes of, ties of blood, title, totem, tribe, tribesman, type, type O, uterine kin, variety, vascular hemophilia,
venous blood, vis vitae, vis vitalis, vital energy, vital flame,
vital fluid, vital force, vital principle, vital spark, vital
spirit, water, whey, white
corpuscle