-ical

suffix

-ical

suffix

/ɪkəl/

Etymology From Middle English -ical, a combination of -ic from Old French -ique, from Latin -icus, related to Ancient Greek suffix Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), plus -al from Latin adjective suffix -alis, or Old French -el. By surface analysis, -ic + -al.

1

Morpheme 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 Greek or Latin origin, but used with other words also.

  • mythical, quizzical, theistical, whimsical
Related terms
-ic, -etic, -al

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.