Hippocratic

adjective

Hip·​po·​crat·​ic ˌhi-pə-ˈkra-tik How to pronounce Hippocratic (audio)
: of or relating to Hippocrates or to the school of medicine that took his name

Examples of Hippocratic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Clubbed nails, also known as digital clubbing or Hippocratic fingers, describe a downward slope or curve in your fingernails or toenails. Mark Gurarie, Health, 14 Feb. 2025 Instead of virtuosity, textual fidelity and the pursuit of excellence, music making around vulnerable people calls on a mix of ethical values and social skills — chief among them the Hippocratic injunction to do no harm. Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025 But that’s one of bit of Hippocratic wisdom that may be overstated. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2024 And at any rate, Obama did have his Hippocratic creed, an important corrective after the recklessness of the Bush administration. Joe Klein, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017 But even with Ed Begley onboard as a doctor with tenuous ties to his Hippocratic oath, Elizabeth Perkins steals the show playing Funkhouser’s persnickety new flame, Marilyn. Larry Fitzmaurice, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2024 The Hippocratic collaboration was one of many announcements from Nvidia’s 2024 GTC Conference, but this AI development was perhaps the most dystopian. Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024 Daniela Rus: Should roboticists consider subscribing to their own Hippocratic oath? IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024 The traditional tenets of Hippocratic medicine, which focus on the individual in front of the physician, have been, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. Richard T. Bosshardt, National Review, 26 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1617, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Hippocratic was in 1617

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Cite this Entry

“Hippocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hippocratic. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

Hippocratic

adjective
Hip·​po·​crat·​ic
ˌhip-ə-ˈkrat-ik
: of or relating to the Greek physician Hippocrates or to the school of medicine that took his name

Medical Definition

Hippocratic

adjective
Hip·​po·​crat·​ic ˌhip-ə-ˈkrat-ik How to pronounce Hippocratic (audio)
: of or relating to Hippocrates or to the school of medicine that took his name
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