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factor IV

factor IV

4.9
A calcium ion that helps blood form clots
  • noun
  • /ˈfæktər fɔr/
  • Specialized
translation icon : factor IV
  • The factor IV is essential for several steps in the blood coagulation process.

Examples

  • Doctors measured the patient's factor IV levels during treatment for the bleeding disorder.

  • The body needs factor IV for proper blood clotting.

  • The absence of sufficient factor IV can lead to problems with clotting.

  • Without factor IV, clotting cannot occur effectively.

  • Doctors measured the patient's factor IV levels during treatment for the bleeding disorder.

  • The absence of sufficient factor IV can lead to problems with clotting.

  • Without factor IV, clotting cannot occur effectively.

Synonyms

calcium ion
vsfactor IV
  • Specialized
1 4.0

A small positively charged particle of calcium that helps blood to clot and muscles to move

is identified mainly as the clotting-required component rather than a general biological charged particle

Surface Forms

factor IV singular
factors IV plural

Morphology

factor + IV

The form 'factor IV' only transparently signals an ordinal label ('the fourth factor') from 'factor' + 'IV', but the specific referent 'the calcium ion' is specialized biomedical knowledge and is not inferable from the constituents. A B1 learner who knows only the component words would not be able to derive that it names calcium used in clotting, so the expression is domain-specific and opaque.

Etymology

Factor IV comes from early blood research, when scientists called unknown helpers factor and numbered them, so IV means number four. That number turned out to be the 'calcium ion', so factor IV now means the 'calcium ion' needed for 'blood clotting'.