idiopathicadj.
/ˌɪdɪəˈpaθɪk/, U.S. /ˌɪdiəˈpæθɪk/ 1. Medicine. Originally (of a disease or disorder): arising by itself in the affected part of the body (opposed to sympathetic adj. 1c) (now historical); not consequent upon or symptomatic of another disease, primary (opposed to symptomatic adj. 1a) (now rare). In later use: of unexplained or unknown aetiology.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > types > [adjective] > primary disease
idiopathetic1634
idiopathical1664
idiopathic1669
protopathic1714
substantive1815
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 88 If the diseases..be idiopathick.
1684 tr. T. Bonet Guide Pract. Physician iii. 69 The idiopathick Headach..requires Purging.
1714 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea (ed. 2) 96 It's highly conducive in Idiopathic Convulsive Illnesses; that (beginning primarily in the Brain itself, or Nerves) are caused by an ill-sorted Copula.
1796 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 405 It is a real and idiopathic disease.
1846 W. Hamilton in T. Reid Wks. 854 The idiopathic affections of our several organs of sense, as Colour, Sound.
1874 H. Maudsley Respons. in Mental Dis. iii. 80 Cases in which the insanity is owing to idiopathic disease of the brain.
1876 J. Van Duyn & E. C. Seguin tr. E. L. Wagner Man. Gen. Pathol. 2 In many cases it is..important to recognize an affection as idiopathic or symptomatic.
1903 J. M. H. Macleod Pract. Handbk. Pathol. Skin xii. 95 The pathology of the affection is not yet fully explained, and in consequence the name Diffuse idiopathic atrophy of the skin has been applied to it.
1930 Tubercle 11 325/2 Two forms of plastic bronchitis may be described, namely idiopathic and symptomatic, each of which may be acute or chronic.
1973 Black Panther 21 July 8/1 The vast majority of cases [of hypertension]..are idiopathic (the exact cause is not known).
1997 J. Arrizabalaga et al. Great Pox ix. 246 Idiopathic disorders could also produce pain or damage elsewhere, by sympathy.
2004 J. Playfair Living with Germs (2007) vii. 179 Many rashes are due to allergy, drugs, or other causes, and even more are idiopathic—that useful synonym for ‘nobody knows’.
2. Peculiar to an individual; idiosyncratic. Cf. idiosyncrasy n. 1. rare.
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the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > [adjective] > relating to individual nature
idiosyncratical1670
idiocratical1727
idiosyncratic1754
idiocratic1789
idiopathic1857
1857 M. J. Berkeley Introd. Cryptogamic Bot. §403. 368 The common mushroom has proved fatal in Italy... This does not appear to depend upon any idiopathic phenomena, but upon the intrinsic character of the individual specimens.
1988 J. Kellerman Butcher's Theater v. 55 Heroin. Not enough to kill her unless she had an idiopathic sensitivity, but enough to sedate her.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1669