-ical
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Combination of -ic French -ique, from Latin -icus, related to Ancient Greek suffix -ικός (-ikos), plus -al from Latin adjective suffix -alis, or French -el.
[edit] Suffix
-ical
- Used to form adjectives from nouns with the meaning "of or pertaining to"; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.
[edit] Usage notes
Often redundant to the use of -ic alone; for example, mythic and mythical are identical in meaning. For words that naturally end in -ic such as magic and statistic, the addition is only of -al.
