-ical

See also: ical

English

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪkəl/

Suffix

-ical

1. 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, theistical, whimsical

Usage notes

Often redundant to the use of -ic alone; for example, mythic and mythical are identical in meaning. Likewise for -etic, as in phonetic and phonetical. For words that naturally end in -ic such as magic and statistic, the addition is only of -al.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -ical

Related terms

• -ic
• -etic
• -al

Anagrams

• Alic, Cail, Cali, Laci, laic