IC
- plural ICs. immediate constituent.
- Electronics. integrated circuit.
- intensive care.
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I.C.
- Jesus Christ.
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Origin of I.C.
< Latin I(ēsus) C(hrīstus)
-ic
- 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).
- Chemistry. a suffix, specialized in opposition to -ous, used to show the higher of two valences: ferric chloride.
- a noun suffix occurring chiefly in loanwords from Greek, where such words were originally adjectival (critic; magic; music).
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Origin of -ic
Middle English -ic, -ik < Latin -icus; in many words representing the cognate Greek -ikos (directly or through L); in some words replacing -ique < French < Latin -icus
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ic
Contemporary Examples
The Republican National Committee has called the project out as a “Democrat[ic] front group.”
Collectively, these 16 agencies are called the “IC”—intelligence community.
Historical Examples
One lot always end in 'ic,' and the other in 'ia,' and it is so confusing.
Hunter's MarjoryMargaret Bruce Clarke
The pronoun of the first person is often ic 245, 385; vr pl.
(which, conclusively, he did not say: the at 'em-ic theory is to be dismissed).
It would be suicide to stay in the hands of the IC any longer.
InsidekickJesse Franklin Bone
The native couldn't possibly have reached him in the safety of IC's jail.
InsidekickJesse Franklin Bone
IC
- internal-combustion
- electronics integrated circuit
- text messaging I see
- (in transformational grammar) immediate constituent
- astrology Imum Coeli: the point on the ecliptic lying directly opposite the Midheaven
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-ic
- of, relating to, or resemblingallergic; Germanic; periodic See also -ical
- (in chemistry) indicating that an element is chemically combined in the higher of two possible valence statesferric; stannic Compare -ous (def. 2)
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Word Origin
from Latin -icus or Greek -ikos; -ic also occurs in nouns that represent a substantive use of adjectives (magic) and in nouns borrowed directly from Latin or Greek (critic, music)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ic
-ic
adjective suffix, "having to do with, having the nature of, being, made of, caused by, similar to" (in chemistry, indicating a higher valence than names in -ous), from French -ique and directly from Latin -icus, which in many cases represents Greek -ikos "in the manner of; pertaining to." From PIE *-(i)ko, which also yielded Slavic -isku, adjectival suffix indicating origin, the source of the -sky (Russian -skii) in many surnames.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
-ic
- 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.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.