What it means
خونریزی (khunrizi) is a fully native Persian compound formed from خون (khun), meaning blood, and ریزی, a noun derived from the verb ریختن (rikhtan), meaning to pour or to flow. Together they literally mean the flowing of blood. The word covers everything from a minor cut, خونریزی جزئی (khunrizi-ye joz-i), to life-threatening internal haemorrhage, خونریزی داخلی (khunrizi-ye dâkheli). A clinical near-synonym borrowed from Arabic is نزف الدم (nazf-oddam), but this is rarely used in everyday Persian speech. خونریزی is the natural, universal word that both doctors and patients reach for.
How to use it
- زخمش خونریزی شدیدی داره، باید ببندیش. (zakhmash khunrizi-ye shadidi dâre, bâyad bebandish.) “His wound is bleeding heavily, you need to bandage it.”
- خونریزی داخلی بعد از تصادف خطرناکه. (khunrizi-ye dâkheli bad az tasâdof khatarnâke.) “Internal bleeding after an accident is dangerous.”
- فشار بذار رو زخم تا خونریزی بند بیاد. (feshâr bezâr ru zakhm tâ khunrizi band biyâd.) “Put pressure on the wound until the bleeding stops.”
- خونریزی لثه ممکنه نشونه مشکل خون باشه. (khunrizi-ye lase momkene neshune-ye moshkel-e khun bâshe.) “Gum bleeding can be a sign of a blood disorder.”
Cultural note
The word خون (blood) carries deep cultural weight in Persian literature and poetry, appearing in the works of Hafez, Rumi, and Ferdowsi as a symbol of passion, sacrifice, and loss. In everyday medical speech, however, خونریزی is entirely clinical and unpoetic. Pharmacists in Iran are often the first point of contact for minor bleeding injuries, and most neighbourhood داروخانه (dârukhâne, pharmacies) stock wound dressings and hemostatic agents without requiring a prescription.