micropathic

English

Adjective

micropathic (not comparable)

1. (rare) Of or pertaining to micropathia.
2. (obsolete) Pertaining to very small doses of medicines.
   • 1863 August, The Kingdom of Siam, “The New Monthly Magazine and Universal Register”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 128, number 62, page 499:

     There are two medical systems in Siam, which might be called the megalopathic and the micropahtic, as the main distinction between them consists in the amount of the doses.

   • 1881 June, Jno. W. Maclean, “Micropathy”, in The Family's Defender Magazine and Educational Review, volume 1, number 6, page 286:

     This certain point, roughly stated, is about one-hundredth of the ordinary allopathic dose, that is, if the allopathic dose of rhubarb is ten grains, the micropoathic dose is one-tenth to one-twelfth of a grain, but if this dose causes any irritation, it is a sympton that the quantity given has gone beyond the tonic action and must be reduced, and as the patient is always warned of this action, he can always regulate the quantity taken, according to the symptoms.

3. (obsolete) Involving pathogenic microorganisms.
   • 1902 October, “Notes on Reliable Remedies”, in Saint Jospeh Medical Herald, volume 21, page 417:

     Bioplasm is rapidly making a record which will give it a prominent place in modern therapeutics, in the treatment especially of the forlorn and hopeless diseases, such as tuberculosis and other micropathic pathology.

   • 1904, The Wisconsin Medical Recorder - Volume 7, page 506:

     Even infectious (toxic) micro-organisms are harmless if the blood is healthy; that is, when the normal phagocytic standard is maintained, or in the language of Ehrlich when the side-chain "receptors" are adequate to meet and "fix" the micropathic toxin.

4. (medicine) Involving pathology that manifests at or results from changes at a microscopic level.
   • 1935, University of Michigan. University Hospital, University Hospital Bulletin - Volumes 1-8, page 84:

     Lillie has shown that the presence of the virus in various organs was accompanied by micropathic changes.

   • 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, page 8650:

     The combined effects of tissue ischemia secondary to micropathic angiopathy and of eosinophil-derived neurotoxins have been considered to be of pathobiologic significance (30).

   • 2016 June, Gwenalyn Garcia, Jean Paul Atallah, “Antineoplastic agents and thrombotic microangiopathy”, in Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice, volume 23, number 2:

     They demonstrated persistent proteinuria and eventually developed evidence of micropathic hemolytic anemia; however, no decline in renal function was noted.

5. Characterized by a lack of vigor or strength; puny.
   • 2023, Albert Valente, Reflections on Ethical and Aesthetic Phenomena, page 28:

     And so a great deal of the people in the Western world have been fed this ample supply of digestible entertainment, the products made for the Anglo-American demos, a product which has sedated them and made the whole of the Western world, more or less, into a micropathic infantilized society obsessed with gentle pleasures and sentimental humanitarianism, the fervor of the grand pathos of tragedy and sublime art dying down in order to embrace a watered down popular culture dictated by London, Los Angeles, and New York.