"pertaining to or causing congestion," 1817, from congest + -ive. Congestive heart failure is recorded from 1928.
Entries linking to congestive
congest v.
early 15c. (implied in congested), of body fluids, "to accumulate," from Latin congestus, past participle of congerere "to bring together, pile up," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + gerere "to carry, perform" (see gest). Sense of "overcrowd" is from 1859. Related: Congested; congesting.
-ive
word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, meaning "pertaining to, tending to; doing, serving to do," in some cases from Old French -if, but usually directly from Latin adjectival suffix -ivus (source also of Italian and Spanish -ivo). In some words borrowed from French at an early date it has been reduced to -y (as in hasty, tardy).