'ischemia' originates from Modern Latin/medical Latin, specifically the word 'ischaemia', where the element 'isch-' meant 'to restrain or suppress' and 'haima' meant 'blood'.

'ischemia' entered English via Late Latin and European medical usage (e.g. French 'ischémie', German 'Ischämie') from Greek roots such as 'ischēmia' and became the current English medical term 'ischemia'.

Initially it referred broadly to a stopping or restraining of blood; over time it came to mean the modern medical sense of a local reduction in blood supply that causes tissue oxygen and nutrient deprivation.