factor IV
- noun
- /ˈfæktər fɔr/
- Specialized
- The factor IV is essential for several steps in the blood coagulation process.
Examples
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Doctors measured the patient's factor IV levels during treatment for the bleeding disorder.
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The body needs factor IV for proper blood clotting.
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The absence of sufficient factor IV can lead to problems with clotting.
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Without factor IV, clotting cannot occur effectively.
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Doctors measured the patient's factor IV levels during treatment for the bleeding disorder.
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The absence of sufficient factor IV can lead to problems with clotting.
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Without factor IV, clotting cannot occur effectively.
Synonyms
A small positively charged particle of calcium that helps blood to clot and muscles to move
Surface Forms
Morphology
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'.