"affected with or inclined to dropsy," 1680s; see dropsy + -ical. The Middle English adjective was dropik (early 15c.).
Entries linking to dropsical
dropsy n.
"morbid accumulation of watery liquid in a part of the body," late 13c., a shortening of Middle English ydropsy, idropsie, from Old French idropsie and directly from Latin hydropsis, from Greek hydrops (genitive hydropos) "dropsy," from hydor "water" (from suffixed form of PIE root *wed- (1) "water; wet").
-ical
compound adjectival word-forming element, usually interchangeable with -ic but sometimes with specialized sense (such as historic/historical, politic/political), Middle English, from Late Latin -icalis, from Latin -icus + -alis (see -al (1)). Probably it was needed because the forms in -ic often took on a noun sense (for example physic). Forms in -ical tend to be attested earlier in English than their twins in -ic.