-ic
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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.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
-ic
suffix forming adjectives
2. (Elements & Compounds) (in chemistry) indicating that an element is chemically combined in the higher of two possible valence states: ferric; stannic. Compare -ous2
[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 and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
-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)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.