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Glite Dictionary
Christmas factor

Christmas factor

6.5
A protein in the blood that helps blood form clots and stop bleeding
  • noun
  • /ˈkrɪs·məs ˈfæktər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : factor de Navidad
  • The absence of the Christmas factor is the cause of hemophilia B.

Examples

  • A low level of Christmas factor in the blood increases the risk of prolonged bleeding.

  • Researchers developed a synthetic version of the Christmas factor to treat patients more effectively.

  • The Christmas factor is essential for blood clotting.

  • People with a deficiency in Christmas factor may experience severe bleeding.

  • A low level of Christmas factor in the blood increases the risk of prolonged bleeding.

  • The absence of the Christmas factor is the cause of hemophilia B.

  • People with a deficiency in Christmas factor may experience severe bleeding.

Synonyms

factor IX
vsChristmas factor
  • Specialized
5.5

A blood protein that helps stop bleeding and whose lack causes hemophilia B, a disease with heavy bleeding

is the same protein but named using a traditional alternate term

Surface Forms

Christmas factor singular
Christmas factors plural

Morphology

Christmas + factor

This is an eponymous technical name: 'Christmas' refers to a proper name (the patient after whom Factor IX was identified), not the holiday, so a B1 learner who knows 'Christmas' (the holiday) and 'factor' would not predict a specific blood-clotting protein. The medical, historical, and taxonomic information behind the term is not compositional or inferable from the constituents, so the meaning is unpredictable to learners.

Etymology

Christmas factor was named after a boy called Stephen Christmas who first had the bleeding problem, and doctors used his name for the missing factor, a blood-clotting protein. So today Christmas factor means that protein, also called Factor IX, whose lack causes 'hemophilia B'.