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-ic - 4 dictionary results

-ic

 
Use -ic in a Sentence
1. a suffix forming adjectives from other parts of speech, occurring originally in Greek and Latin loanwords (metallic; poetic; archaic; public) and, on this model, used as an adjective-forming suffix with the particular senses “having some characteristics of” (opposed to the simple attributive use of the base noun) (balletic; sophomoric); “in the style of” (Byronic; Miltonic); “pertaining to a family of peoples or languages” (Finnic; Semitic; Turkic).
2. Chemistry. a suffix, specialized in opposition to -ous, used to show the higher of two valences: ferric chloride.
3. a noun suffix occurring chiefly in loanwords from Greek, where such words were originally adjectival (critic; magic; music).
Origin:
ME -ic, -ik < L -icus; in many words repr. the cognate Gk -ikos (directly or through L); in some words r. -ique < F < L -icus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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-ic  
suff.  
  1. Of, relating to, or characterized by: seismic.
  2. Having a valence higher than that of a specified element in compounds or ions named with adjectives ending in -ous: sulfuric acid.
  3. One relating to or characterized by: academic.

[Middle English, from Old French -ique, from Latin -icus and from Greek -ikos.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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-ic

-ic\ [L. -icus, Gr. ?: cf. F. -ique.]

1. A suffix signifying, in general, relating to, or characteristic of; as, historic, hygienic, telegraphic, etc.

2. (Chem.) A suffix, denoting that the element indicated enters into certain compounds with its highest valence, or with a valence relatively higher than in compounds where the name of the element ends in -ous; as, ferric, sulphuric. It is also used in the general sense of pertaining to; as, hydric, sodic, calcic.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : -ic
Spanish: targeta inteligente,
German: die Smart-karte,
Japanese: IC、メモリーなどを組み込んだクレジットカードなど
More Translations »

-ic suff.

  1. Of, relating to, or characterized by: carbonic.
  2. Having a valence higher than that of a specified element in compounds or ions named with adjectives ending in -ous: ferric.
  3. Of or relating to an acid: sulfuric acid.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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