hydropic adjective & noun. [hʌɪ'drɒpɪk] LME.
[Old French ydropique, -ike from Latin hydropicus from Greek hudropikos, from hudrops HYDROPS: see -IC. In 16 conformed (along with French hydropique) to Latin spelling.]
A. adjective.
1. Oedematous, dropsical. LME.

2. fig. Insatiable; very thirsty. LME-M18.

3. Containing a lot of water; swollen. M17.

4. That cures dropsy. L17-E18.
Special collocations: hydropic degeneration: in which a cell is swollen with so much excess water that its cytoplasm appears clear and homogeneous.
b. noun.
1. A person with dropsy. Formerly, the dropsical people as a class. Now rare. LME.

2. A medicine for curing dropsy. Long rare or obsolete. L17.

■ hydropical adjective (now rare or obsolete) = HYDROPIC adjective 1,2,3 M16.

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