'hematophagous' originates from Greek, specifically the words 'haima' and 'phagein', where 'haima' meant 'blood' and 'phagein' meant 'to eat'.

'hematophagous' came into English via New Latin 'haematophagous' (from Greek), and the spelling 'hematophagous' was adopted in modern English.

Initially, it meant 'feeding on blood', and over time it has retained this core meaning in scientific and general use.