Illustrative Context

Blood is red.

Target Sense

• The most generic term for blood, which must be able to be applied specifically to human blood as running fresh from a cut to the skin. (In most languages the basic generic term will also be applicable to the blood of many animals.)
• Select only the basic, default register term: avoid technical, medical terms.
• Avoid loaded or emotive terms, e.g. English gore or Latin cruor rather than basic sanguis.
• Avoid words only or predominantly used in figurative senses of ‘blood’ as ancestry, offspring, vigour, etc..
• Avoid more specific terms for types of blood, e.g. dried blood (e.g. as a food), etc.
• If a language has no cover term, but has separate terms for lighter red (arterial) and darker red (vein) blood, then select whichever is the more basic, and only if that cannot be determined, select specifically the term for lighter red, arterial blood.