Hec"tic (?), a. [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.
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.
Hectic fever Med., a fever of irritation and debility, occurring usually at a advanced stage of exhausting disease, as a in pulmonary consumption.
© Webster 1913.
Hec"tic, n.
1. Med.
Hectic fever.
2.
A hectic flush.
It is no living hue, but a strange hectic.
Byron.
© Webster 1913.