Affixes

When blood clots, fibrin, a stringy protein, is deposited as an insoluble mesh that holds the clot together; it is generated as needed from fibrinogen, a soluble protein in the blood, through the action of the enzyme thrombin. The adjectives fibrinoid and fibrinous refer to the nature or properties of fibrin. The natural process of breaking down fibrin by enzymes is called fibrinolysis (Greek lusis, loosening); the agent that breaks it down is another enzyme, fibrinolysin.