dropsy

[ drop-see ]

/ ˈdrɒp si /

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noun

(formerly) edema.

an infectious disease of fishes, characterized by a swollen, spongelike body and protruding scales, caused by a variety of the bacterium Pseudomonas punctata.

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Origin of dropsy

1250–1300; Middle English drop(e)sie, aphetic variant of ydropesie<Old French <Medieval Latin (h)ydrōpisīa, equivalent to Latin hydrōpis(is) (<Greek hydrōpi-, stem of hýdrōps dropsy (hydr-hydr-¹ + -ōpsi-< ?) + -sis-sis) + -ia-y³

OTHER WORDS FROM dropsy

drop·sied

[drop-seed], /ˈdrɒp sid/, adjective

Words nearby dropsy

drop shot, dropsical, drop siding, dropsley, dropsonde, dropsy, dropt, drop table, drop tank, drop tee, drop the ball

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dropsy in a sentence

I am very sorry to hear that Batt is detained at Oxford in a bad state of health, with some symptoms of a growing dropsy.
Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2)|Edward Gibbon
The old chief was suffering with dropsy, but under Moffat's medical care he recovered, and was soon able to walk about again.
Robert Moffat|David J. Deane
I found him extremely unwell, with what I conceived to be a dropsy, for his abdomen was very much swollen.
The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume II (of 3)|Elliott Coues
Most of them died from intermitting fever, and from dropsy and rheumatism which followed it.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests|J. J. von Tschudi

It is distinguished from common dropsy, by the lower parts of the stomach being most swollen.
The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher|Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for dropsy

dropsy

/ (ˈdrɒpsɪ) /

noun

pathol a condition characterized by an accumulation of watery fluid in the tissues or in a body cavity

slang a tip or bribe

Derived forms of dropsy

dropsical (ˈdrɒpsɪkəl) or dropsied, adjectivedropsically, adverb

Word Origin for dropsy

C13: shortened from ydropesie, from Latin hydrōpisis, from Greek hudrōps, from hudōr water

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012