| 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). |
| -ic suff.
[Middle English, from Old French -ique, from Latin -icus and from Greek -ikos.] |
-ic suff.
Of, relating to, or characterized by: carbonic.
Having a valence higher than that of a specified element in compounds or ions named with adjectives ending in -ous: ferric.
Of or relating to an acid: sulfuric acid.
