由法语引进英语的拉丁或希腊后缀-ic有两种属性：1)主要充当派生后缀，加缀在名词后面构成形容词，表示of〜（与…有关的），having the nature of〜（有…性质的），being〜（是…的）；made up of〜{由…组成的）;made or caused by〜（由…引起的）； like〜（像…的）。2)充当原生名词后缀，主要加在希腊词根上， 表不 an art or system of thought (艺术，学术），或者 a person connected with〜（与…有关的人）。顺便指出，当-ic充当名问后缀时，对应的形容词往往由-ical结尾。

下面先看看含有-ic的形容词派生词。

atmospheric [atmospher (← atmosphere) n. 大气；-ic→] a. of or having to do with the atmosphere 大气的 / 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，正常的大气压是每平方英寸14.7磅。

bombastic [bombast n. 夸大之言 ; -ic→] a. being bombast; using many showy words 说大话的；夸夸其谈的 / His bombastic speech annoyed us. 他那言过其实的演讲令人讨厌。

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. 救火队员的英雄事迹感动了城里的每个人。

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. 威士忌与杜松子酒都是含酒精的饮料。

quixotic [quixot (←Don Quixot) n. 堂吉诃德；-ic→] a. like Don Quixot; romantic; very impractical 堂吉诃德式的；富于浪漫幻想的；不切实际的 / With quixotic bravado, they declared they would conquer the whole world in a matter of weeks. 他们以堂吉诃德式的虚张声势，宣称要在几周之内征服全世界。