Hepatic

How to spell hepatic

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce hepatic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hepatic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or affecting the liver.

Hepatic in a sentence

• The blood test screens for early signs of hepatic damage.

• Prolonged heavy drinking can lead to serious hepatic disease.

Where does hepatic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek hepar, with the stem hepat-, which simply meant 'liver', the large organ that processes blood and stores energy. The Greeks formed the adjective hepatikos to mean 'of or belonging to the liver', and Latin took this over as hepaticus. English absorbed the term through medical and scientific writing, with the adjective hepatic appearing by the 1600s as physicians needed a precise word for liver-related conditions and remedies. The same Greek root survives in the disease name hepatitis, literally 'inflammation of the liver', which is why the two words share their distinctive 'hepat' spelling. Remembering that the root is hepat-, not hep- or hip-, is the key to spelling it correctly, since the unstressed first syllable can sound deceptively like 'hip' in rapid speech.

How the word is built

• hepat- (from Greek hepar/hepatos: liver)
• -ic (adjective suffix: relating to)