51�Թ�

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.

a noun suffix occurring chiefly in loanwords from Greek, where such words were originally adjectival (critic; magic; music ).