What does dropsy mean?
Dropsy is a largely historical medical term for what is today called oedema (or edema in American English): the abnormal build-up of watery fluid in the body's tissues or cavities, which produces visible swelling, most commonly in the legs, ankles, and abdomen. Rather than being a disease in itself, dropsy was understood even by early physicians as a symptom of some underlying condition — frequently heart failure, kidney disease, or liver disorders. The word was standard in medical writing for centuries and figures prominently in literature before the twentieth century, where afflicted characters are often described as swollen and sallow. Modern medicine has retired the term in favour of its precise successor, so dropsy now survives chiefly in historical accounts, period drama, and discussions of older medical practice. Knowing it helps readers interpret pre-modern texts accurately: a reference to someone dying of dropsy points to fluid retention, not to any single identifiable illness.
nounAn old-fashioned term for oedema, the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the body's tissues, causing swelling.
- A historical medical term for the accumulation of serous fluid in the body's tissues or cavities, causing swelling; now known as oedema (edema in US English).
"In the eighteenth century, a diagnosis of dropsy was often a sign of underlying heart or kidney disease."
"The old physician noted that the patient's legs showed clear signs of dropsy."
"In Dickensian novels, characters suffering from dropsy were often described as bloated and pale."
Rarely pluralised, as the condition is typically treated as an uncountable mass noun. A plural form occasionally appears in very old medical texts referring to different types or instances of the condition.
"Early medical treatises catalogued various dropsies according to the part of the body affected."
Before modern medicine gave us 'oedema,' doctors blamed dropsy on everything from a weak heart to drinking too much cold water — and treated it with remedies that often did more harm than good.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dropsy
Dropsy entered English in the late Middle Ages by way of Old French "ydropse," ultimately deriving from the Greek "hydrops" (ὕδωψ), formed from "hydor," meaning water — a fitting root for a condition defined by excess fluid. The word has been in continuous use since at least the fourteenth century, long predating the modern terminology of oedema. It shares this watery Greek ancestry with a family of medical terms built on "hydor," including hydrops and hydrocele.
Related word forms
How dropsy is actually used
"Dropsy" is now largely archaic and appears mainly in historical texts or period fiction. The modern medical term is "oedema" (British) or "edema" (US). The word carries an antique, clinical flavour rather than any emotional connotation.
Easily confused with dropsy
Dyspepsia refers to indigestion or impaired digestion, whereas dropsy refers to fluid retention and swelling in the tissues.