online medical dictionary | definition of hectic

1. Habitual; constitutional; pertaining especially to slow waste of animal tissue, as in consumption; as, a hectic type in disease; a hectic flush.

2. In a hectic condition; having hectic fever; consumptive; as, a hectic patient.

<medicine> Hectic fever, a fever of irritation and debility, occurring usually at a advanced stage of exhausting disease, as a in pulmonary consumption.

Origin: F. Hectique, Gr. Habitual, consumptive, fr. Habit, a habit of body or mind, fr. To have; akin to Skr. Sah to overpower, endure; cf. AS. Sige, sigor, victory, G. Sieg, Goth. Sigis. Cf. Scheme.

1. <medicine> Hectic fever.

2. A hectic flush. "It is no living hue, but a strange hectic." (Byron)

(01 Mar 1998)