A serious blood disease where the body produces too many immature red blood cells, often seen in newborns with severe hemolytic anemia, particularly from Rh incompatibility between mother and baby.
From 'erythroblast' combined with '-osis' meaning 'abnormal condition.' This medical term emerged in the early 20th century as physicians identified hemolytic disease in newborns.
Erythroblastosis fetalis used to be a devastating condition that killed many babies because of blood type mismatches between mothers and fetuses—but once scientists understood the RH factor and developed preventive treatments like RhoGAM, they essentially made one of childbirth's oldest killers vanish.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.