-ical


-ical

suffix forming adjectives a variant of -ic: economical; fanatical. [from Latin -icālis] -ically suffix forming adverbs

-ic

1. a suffix forming adjectives from other parts of speech, occurring orig. 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. a suffix, specialized in opposition to -ous, used to show the higher of two valences: ferric chloride. 3. a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from Greek, where such words were orig. adjectival (critic; magic; music). [Middle English -ic, -ik < Latin -icus or Greek -ikos]

IC

1. immediate constituent. 2. integrated circuit. 3. intensive care.

I.C.

Jesus Christ. [< Late Latin I(ēsus)C(hrīstus)]