From Greek embolos 'peg, wedge,' coined medically by Virchow in 1856 for a clot 'thrown into' the bloodstream.
The obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot or other material carried through the bloodstream from another site.
From Greek embolismos 'intercalation, insertion,' from embolos 'peg, wedge, stopper,' from emballein 'to throw in.' Rudolf Virchow coined the medical term in 1856, envisioning a clot thrown into the bloodstream like a wedge jamming a pipe. Key roots: *gʷelH- (Proto-Indo-European: "to throw").