dropsy

[ drop-see ]

noun

1. (formerly) edema.
2. an infectious disease of fishes, characterized by a swollen, spongelike body and protruding scales, caused by a variety of the bacterium Pseudomonas punctata.

dropsy

/ ˈdrɒpsɪ; ˈdrɒpsɪkəl /

noun

1. pathol a condition characterized by an accumulation of watery fluid in the tissues or in a body cavity
2. slang.
   a tip or bribe

Derived Forms

• dropsical, adjective
• ˈdropsically, adverb

Other Words From

• drop·sied [drop, -seed], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dropsy¹

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 -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of dropsy¹

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

Example Sentences

He read his grandmother’s life story, which said her father died in 1900 from “dropsy,” an old-fashioned term for swelling from excess fluid.

From Washington Times

They were not only purported to treat the symptoms of an impressive array of conditions — including rheumatism, leprosy, eczema, acne, gout, insomnia, constipation, opium craving, barrenness, night sweats, dropsy, dyspepsia, diabetes, St. Vitus’s Dance, herpes, bronchitis, paralysis and insanity — but capable of elevating our souls.

From New York Times

Mapp spawned a surge in “dropsy” cases: Rather than admit to an illegal search, police claimed that defendants simply dropped drugs on the ground in front of them, since evidence found in “plain view” can be used at trial.

From Slate

In the early 1970s, the New York district attorney even told the New York Court of Appeals that, since Mapp, officers lied on the stand in a “substantial” number of “dropsy cases.”

From Slate

“You must take great pains to care for them. If a storm comes and there is lightning, you must cover them; otherwise they will get jaundice or dropsy. They will also die when you give them too much to eat.”

From Literature