/ ˈkɑːdiæk; NAmE ˈkɑːrd-/ adjective
[ only before noun ] ( medical ) connected with the heart or heart disease :
cardiac disease / failure / surgery
to suffer cardiac arrest (= an occasion when a person's heart stops temporarily or permanently)
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (as a noun denoting heart disease): from French cardiaque or Latin cardiacus , from Greek kardiakos , from kardia heart or upper opening of the stomach. The adjective dates from the early 17th cent.