hepatic
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the liver.
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acting on the liver, as a medicine.
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liver-colored; dark reddish-brown.
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Botany. belonging or pertaining to the liverworts.
noun
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a medicine acting on the liver.
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a liverwort.
adjective
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of or relating to the liver
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botany of or relating to the liverworts
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having the colour of liver
noun
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obsolete any of various drugs for use in treating diseases of the liver
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a less common name for a liverwort
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hepatic
1350–1400; Middle English epatik ≪ Latin hēpaticus < Greek hēpatikós. See hepato-, -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Researchers observed no cases of drug-induced liver injury, and there was no hepatic safety signal.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
The FDA flagged a case of hepatic failure in a 56-year-old man using Eli Lilly’s weight-loss medication.
From Barron's • May 4, 2026
In healthy mice, the team detected 111 metabolites enriched in the hepatic portal vein and 74 in peripheral blood.
From Science Daily • Dec. 14, 2025
Because they are cut off from their environment, the original Kupffer cells no longer act like hepatic immune cells.
From Science Daily • Sep. 28, 2023
Scientists of the Food and Drug Administration who reported the discovery of these tumors were uncertain how to classify them, but felt there was some “justification for considering them low grade hepatic cell carcinomas.”
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
