splenic, a. Anat. and Path.
(ˈsplɛnɪk)
Also 7 splenike, 7–8 -ick.
[ad. L. splēnic-us, ad. Gr. σπληνικός, f. σπλήν spleen n. Cf. F. splénique (Paré), It. splenico, Sp. esplenico.]
1. Anat. Of, pertaining to, connected with, or situated in the spleen.
Freq. in splenic artery, splenic plexus, splenic vein, splenic vessel.
| 1619 Purchas Microcosmus v. 40 The Liuer by the splenike branch, transferreth them to the Serjeant of the scullery the Splene. 1666 G. Harvey Morb. Angl. xxvi. (1672) 64 Wee'l suppose the Spleen..principally obstructed in its lower parts and Splenick branch. 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 578 The Gastrick and Splenick Arteries. 1702 Ibid. XXIII. 1186 The Splenick Vein has divers Cells opening into it near its Extremities in Human Bodies. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Plexus, The Splenic Plexus sends out Branches to the left Part of the Ventricle and Panchreas. 1758 J. S. tr. Le Dran's Observ. Surg. (1771) 284 The Passage of the Sword was near the splenick Vessels. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 301 The areolæ formed by the trabecular tissue, commonly known as the splenic follicles. 1872 Huxley Physiol. v. 126 An artery called the splenic artery which proceeds almost directly from the aorta. |
b. splenic flexure, the bend of the colon near the spleen.
| 1808 J. Barclay Musc. Motions 545 At the liver it exhibits the hepatic flexure; at the spleen the splenic flexure. 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 270 A stricture was found situated in the descending colon, about two inches from the splenic flexure. |
2. = splenetic a. 5. rare—0.
| 1730 in Bailey (fol.). |
3. Path. Of diseases, etc.: Of or affecting the spleen; esp. splenic fever, malignant anthrax.
| 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. ii. i. 296 Splenic diseases in sheep. 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 5 On the breaking out of the splenic fever at the halting places of Texas cattle. 1876 J. S. Bristowe Th. & Pract. Med. 578 The hepatic lesion which so commonly goes along with splenic enlargement. Ibid., The presence of splenic hypertrophy. 1884 Chr. Commw. 11 Dec. 120/1 The cause of splenic fever, the terrible ‘Woolsorters' Disease’. |
Hence † ˈsplenical a. Obs.—1 ˈsplenicness, splenetic condition or state (Bailey, vol. II, 1727).
| 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Splenica, Splenical Medicines, are such as by attenuating and volatilizing the grosser parts, remove the Distempers and Obstructions of the Spleen. [Hence in Phillips (1696).] |