der Herzstillstand, ¨-e
cardiac arrest
Definition & meaning
Herzstillstand means cardiac arrest: the heart stops pumping blood effectively, so blood circulation to the body and brain is interrupted. It is a life-threatening medical emergency.
The word can also describe the event or condition itself, as in “the patient suffered a cardiac arrest.”
Grammar & Word origin
A masculine noun: der Herzstillstand. Its plural is die Herzstillstände.
It is a compound of Herz (“heart”) and Stillstand (“cessation” or “standstill”). Stillstand is related to stillstehen [?](vocabuo://word/stillstehen] (“to stand still” or “to cease moving”).
Synonyms & antonyms
- Herz-Kreislauf-Stillstand — “cardiac and circulatory arrest.” This is a closely related medical term that emphasizes the failure of circulation as well as the heart.
- Kreislaufstillstand — “circulatory arrest.” It focuses on circulation stopping and is often used for the same emergency, though it does not name the heart specifically.
There is no exact antonym. normaler Herzschlag (“normal heartbeat”) and intakte Herzfunktion (“intact heart function”) describe the opposite condition, but are not direct lexical opposites.
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Der Herzstillstand war sehr plötzlich.noun
The cardiac arrest was very sudden.
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