1896, from vasopressor, from vaso-, combining form of Latin vas "container, vessel" (see vas) + dilation. Related: Vasodilator (1881).
Entries linking to vasodilation
vas n.
in anatomy, "a tube, duct, or conduit for conveying blood, lymph, semen, etc.," plural vasa, Latin, literally "vessel." Vas deferens (plural vasa defferentia) is from 1570s.
dilation n.
"act of dilating," 1590s, formed from dilate on the mistaken assumption that the -ate in that word was the Latin verbal suffix (it is instead part of the stem); the proper form, dilatation, is older (c. 1400).