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.