This is a complete list of the bloodstain terminology recommended by SWGSTAIN. Those terms with links have more information associated with them - images or cross-references with alternate terminology. [Please note that the images and cross-referencing are a work in progress.]
- Accompanying Drop
- A small blood drop produced as a by-product of drop formation.
- Altered Stain
- A bloodstain with characteristics that indicate a physical change has occurred.
- Angle of Impact
- The acute angle (alpha), relative to the plane of a target, at which a blood drop strikes the target.
- Area of Convergence
- The area containing the intersections generated by lines drawn through the long axes of individual stains that indicates in two dimensions the location of the blood source.
- Area of Origin
- The three-dimensional location from which spatter originated.
- Backspatter Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops that traveled in the opposite direction of the external force applied; associated with an entrance wound created by a projectile.
- Blood Clot
- A gelatinous mass formed by a complex mechanism involving red blood cells, fibrinogen, platelets, and other clotting factors.
- Bloodstain
- A deposit of blood on a surface.
- Bloodstain Pattern
- A grouping or distribution of bloodstains that indicates through regular or repetitive form, order, or arrangement the manner in which the pattern was deposited.
- Bubble Ring
- An outline within a bloodstain resulting from air in the blood.
- Cast-off Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops released from an object due to its motion.
- Cessation Cast-off Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops released from an object due to its rapid deceleration.
- Directionality
- The characteristic of a bloodstain that indicates the direction blood was moving at the time of deposition.
- Directional Angle
- The angle (gamma) between the long axis of a spatter stain and a defined reference line on the target.
- Drip Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from a liquid that dripped into another liquid, at least one of which was blood.
- Drip Stain
- A bloodstain resulting from a falling drop that formed due to gravity.
- Drip Trail
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from the movement of a source of drip stains between two points.
- Edge Characteristic
- A physical feature of the periphery of a bloodstain.
- Expiration Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood forced by airflow out of the nose, mouth, or a wound.
- Flow Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from the movement of a volume of blood on a surface due to gravity or movement of the target.
- Forward Spatter Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops that traveled in the same direction as the impact force.
- Impact Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from an object striking liquid blood.
- Insect Stain
- A bloodstain resulting from insect activity.
- Mist Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood reduced to a spray of micro-drops as a result of the force applied.
- Parent Stain
- A bloodstain from which a satellite stain originated.
- Perimeter Stain
- An altered stain that consists of the peripheral characteristics of the original stain.
- Pool
- A bloodstain resulting from an accumulation of liquid blood on a surface.
- Projected Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from the ejection of a volume of blood under pressure.
- Satellite Stain
- A smaller bloodstain that originated during the formation of the parent stain as a result of blood impacting a surface.
- Saturation Stain
- A bloodstain resulting from the accumulation of liquid blood in an absorbent material.
- Serum Stain
- The stain resulting from the liquid portion of blood (serum) that separates during coagulation.
- Spatter Stain
- A bloodstain resulting from a blood drop dispersed through the air due to an external force applied to a source of liquid blood.
- Splash Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from a volume of liquid blood that falls or spills onto a surface.
- Swipe Pattern
- A bloodstain pattern resulting from the transfer of blood from a blood-bearing surface onto another surface, with characteristics that indicate relative motion between the two surfaces.
- Target
- A surface onto which blood has been deposited.
- Transfer Stain
- A bloodstain resulting from contact between a blood-bearing surface and another surface.
- Void
- An absence of blood in an otherwise continuous bloodstain or bloodstain pattern.
- Wipe Pattern
- An altered bloodstain pattern resulting from an object moving through a preexisting wet bloodstain.