hemophilia

American  

[hee-muh-fil-ee-uh, -feel-yuh, hem-uh-] / ˌhi məˈfɪl i ə, -ˈfil yə, ˌhɛm ə- /

noun

1. any of several X-linked genetic disorders, symptomatic chiefly in males, in which excessive bleeding occurs owing to the absence or abnormality of a clotting factor in the blood.

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hemophilia Scientific  

/ hē′mə-fĭl′ē-ə /

1. Any of several hereditary coagulation disorders, seen almost exclusively in males, in which the blood fails to clot normally because of a deficiency or an abnormality of one of the clotting factors.

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hemophilia Cultural  

1. A hereditary disease caused by a deficiency of a substance in the blood that aids in clotting. Hemophiliacs can bleed to death even from small cuts and bruises, because their blood has largely lost the ability to clot.

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Discover More

Queen Victoria of Britain, whose descendants have been kings and queens of several countries in Europe, carried the gene for hemophilia, which has turned up repeatedly in royal families since her lifetime. Her great-grandson, the heir to the throne of Russia, suffered from the disease, and his parents fell under the influence of the monk Grigori Rasputin in hopes of a miraculous cure. The resulting chaos in the government of Russia helped bring on the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union.

Etymology

Origin of hemophilia

From New Latin, dating back to 1850–55; hemo-, -philia

Explanation

Hemophilia is a genetic disorder that makes it hard for a person's blood to clot. People with hemophilia are at risk of bleeding a lot even from minor injuries. The medical term hemophilia comes from the German hämophile, from Greek roots haima, "blood or streams of blood," and philia, which means "to love" but can also have the sense of "tendency to." The earliest recorded case of hemophilia was in the 10th century, but the disorder wasn't understood until the 1800s. Men are much more likely than women to suffer from hemophilia.

Example Sentences

It’s the second acquisition for BioMarin of 2025, which is seeking to diversify its product portfolio as it recovers from the commercial failure of a hemophilia A gene therapy.

From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025

Some inherited diseases, including cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and Tay Sachs disease, involve multiple genetic mutations within a person's DNA.

From Science Daily • Oct. 25, 2025

Roche said pharma sales increased 7%, and cited Ocrevus for multiple sclerosis, Phesgo for breast cancer and Hemlibra for hemophilia among its top-performing drugs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

But he had hemophilia; he would never get in, they thought.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2024

The economic, political, and social forces that unloosed themselves on the streets of Petrograd and launched the Russian Revolution were vastly more complex than Alexei’s hemophilia or Rasputin’s machinations.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee