hepaticly

Hepaticly is an adverb formed from the adjective hepatic, which means relating to the liver. In contemporary English, the term is rarely used and is generally considered nonstandard or a misspelling. The preferred form for describing liver-related processes in formal writing is hepatically, or the sentence can be rephrased to avoid the adverb altogether.

Etymology and form: The root hepatic comes from Latin hepat-, meaning liver. The standard English adverb is hepatically. The form hepaticly does not appear in major dictionaries and is typically corrected in editorial practice.

Usage: In pharmacology and hepatology, one may write that a drug is hepatically metabolized, but many editors and style guides prefer alternatives such as “metabolized in the liver” or “metabolized by hepatic enzymes” to avoid potential nonstandard forms. When discussing liver-related phenomena, it is generally clearer to use hepatic as an adjective or hepatically as the adverb, depending on sentence structure.

See also: hepatic, hepatology, liver, metabolism.