Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
otitic

otitic

9.1
Having an ear infection or swelling that causes pain
  • adjective
  • /oʊˈtɪtɪk/
  • Specialized
: otítico
  • The doctor diagnosed him with an otitic infection after he complained of ear pain.

Examples

  • She was treated for an otitic disorder that caused her to experience dizziness and discomfort.

  • Children are often more susceptible to otitic conditions due to their developing immune systems.

  • Keeping the system sealed may reduce the risk of otitic meningitis.

    Academic text (2005)

  • This approach is also used in patients with significant hearing loss or multiple episodes of otitic meningitis following the development of temporal CSF fistulae.

    Academic text (2005)

Surface Forms

otitic positive

Morphology

otitic = otitis (opaque) = otit + ic

Although formed from the medical noun 'otitis' plus an adjectival suffix, the combining form 'otit-' and the medical term are not familiar to average learners, so the meaning is not transparently derivable from common words like 'ear'.

Etymology

The word otitic comes from the Greek root ot- meaning 'ear' and the ending -itic, from -itis meaning 'inflammation', as in tonsillitis or arthritis. So, otitic means 'relating to inflammation of the ear', which is why doctors use it for ear infections and ear pain.