'hydropic' originates from New Latin, specifically the word 'hydropicus', where 'hydro-' meant 'water' and 'hydrops' (from Greek) referred to 'dropsy' (an accumulation of watery fluid).

'hydropic' changed from the Greek word 'hydrops' (ὕδρωψ, meaning 'watery swelling') into Late/Medieval Latin forms such as 'hydrops'/'hydropsis', then into New Latin 'hydropicus', and eventually became the modern English word 'hydropic'.

Initially it meant 'of or pertaining to dropsy or watery swelling', and over time this basic meaning has largely remained, now describing tissues or organs with abnormal fluid accumulation (edema).