hectic
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English etik, ethik, from Old French etique, from Medieval Latin *hecticus, from Ancient Greek ἑκτικός (hektikós, “habitual, hectic, consumptive”), from ἕξις (héxis, “a state or habit of body or of mind, condition”), from ἔχειν (ékhein, “to have, hold, intransitive be in a certain state”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
hectic (comparative more hectic, superlative most hectic)
- (figurative) Very busy with activity and confusion.
- Synonym: feverish
- The city center is so hectic at 8 in the morning that I go to work an hour beforehand to avoid the crowds
- (obsolete) Denoting a type of fever accompanying consumption and similar wasting diseases, characterised by flushed cheeks and dry skin.
- hectic fever
- (obsolete) Pertaining to or symptomatic of such a fever.
- 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, chapter VI, in Mary: A Fiction[1]:
- Ann had a hectic cough, and many unfavourable prognostics […] .
- 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter 1, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
- She never complained, but sleep and appetite fled from her, a slow fever preyed on her veins, her colour was hectic, and she often wept in secret […] .
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
very busy with activity and confusion
|
denoting a type of fever accompanying consumption
Noun[edit]
hectic (plural hectics)
- (obsolete) A hectic fever.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 273:
- […] Do it England, / For like the Hecticke in my blood he rages, / And thou muſt cure me: […]
- (obsolete) A flush like one produced by such a fever.
- 1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume I, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC, page 17:
- The poor Franciscan made no reply: a hectic of a moment pass’d across his cheek, but could not tarry […]
- 1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto II, stanza 147:
- For still he lay, and on his thin worn cheek / A purple hectic played like dying day / On the snow-tops of distant hills […]
- 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
- an angry hectic in each cheek, a fierce flirt of her fan, and two or three short sniffs that betokened mischief
Further reading[edit]
- hectic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- hectic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Adjective[edit]
hectic m or n (feminine singular hectică, masculine plural hectici, feminine and neuter plural hectice)
Declension[edit]
Declension of hectic
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | hectic | hectică | hectici | hectice | ||
definite | hecticul | hectica | hecticii | hecticele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | hectic | hectice | hectici | hectice | ||
definite | hecticului | hecticei | hecticilor | hecticelor |
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *seǵʰ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛktɪk
- Rhymes:English/ɛktɪk/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives