由法語引進(jìn)英語的拉丁或希臘后綴-ic有兩種屬性：1)主要充當(dāng)派生后綴，加綴在名詞后面構(gòu)成形容詞，表示of?（與…有關(guān)的），having the nature of?（有…性質(zhì)的），being?（是…的）；made up of?{由…組成的）;made or caused by?（由…引起的）； like?（像…的）。2)充當(dāng)原生名詞后綴，主要加在希臘詞根上， 表不 an art or system of thought (藝術(shù)，學(xué)術(shù)），或者 a person connected with?（與…有關(guān)的人）。順便指出，當(dāng)-ic充當(dāng)名問后綴時(shí)，對應(yīng)的形容詞往往由-ical結(jié)尾。

下面先看看含有-ic的形容詞派生詞。

atmospheric [atmospher (← atmosphere) n. 大氣；-ic→] a. of or having to do with the atmosphere 大氣的 / Normal atmospheric pressure on the earth's surface at sea level is 14.7 pounds per square inch. 在地球的海平面上，正常的大氣壓是每平方英寸14.7磅。

bombastic [bombast n. 夸大之言 ; -ic→] a. being bombast; using many showy words 說大話的；夸夸其談的 / His bombastic speech annoyed us. 他那言過其實(shí)的演講令人討厭。

heroic [hero n. 英雄；-ic→] a. having the nature of a hero; very brave; noble英雄的；英勇的；崇高的 /Everyone in the town was moved by the heroic deeds of the firemen. 救火隊(duì)員的英雄事跡感動(dòng)了城里的每個(gè)人。

alcoholic [alcohol n. 酒精；-ic→] a. of alcohol; made up of or containing alcohol 酒精的；含酒精的/ Whiskey and gin are alcoholic liquors. 威士忌與杜松子酒都是含酒精的飲料。

quixotic [quixot (←Don Quixot) n. 堂吉訶德；-ic→] a. like Don Quixot; romantic; very impractical 堂吉訶德式的；富于浪漫幻想的；不切實(shí)際的 / With quixotic bravado, they declared they would conquer the whole world in a matter of weeks. 他們以堂吉訶德式的虛張聲勢，宣稱要在幾周之內(nèi)征服全世界。