a combination of -ic and -al1, used in forming adjectives from nouns (rhetorical), providing synonyms to words ending in -ic, (poetical), and providing an adjective with additional meanings to those in the -ic, form (economical).
Origin
Middle English < Latin-icālis. See -ic, -al1
Related Words
-ically
Aaronical
aeronautical
alphabetical
axiological ethics
biographical
-icala compound suffix forming adjectives from nouns (rhetorical), providing synonyms to words ending in -ic (poetical), and providing an adjective with additional meanings to those in the -ic form (economical).
[-ic + -al1; in some cases representing Late Latin -icālis, from adjective endings -ic(us)-ic + -ālis-al1]
-ical adjective suffix
ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Late Latin -icalis (as in clericalis clerical, radicalis radical)
: -ic symmetrical geological — sometimes differing from -ic in that adjectives formed with -ical have a wider or more transferred semantic range than corresponding adjectives in -ic
-ical
/ɪkəl/
suffix
forming adjectives [构成形容词]
1.
corresponding to nouns or adjectives usually ending in -ic (such as comical corresponding to comic)
[通常与-ic结尾的名词或形容词相应, 如由comic 构成comical]。
2.
corresponding to nouns ending in -y (such as pathological corresponding to pathology)
[与-y 结尾的名词相应, 如由pathology 构成pathological]。
-icala compound suffix, f. -ic + -al1, sometimes forming an adj. from a n. in -ic, as music, musical, but more frequently a secondary adj., as comic, comical, historic, historical. Its origin appears to have been the formation in late L. of adjs. in -ālis on ns. in -ic-us, or in -icē, e.g.grammatic-us grammarian, grammaticē grammar, grammatic⁓āl-is grammatical, clēricus clergyman, clerk, clēricāl-is clerical. So in med.L., chīrurgicāl-is, dominic-āl-is, medicāl-is, mūsicāl-is, physicāl-is. In French, adjs. of this type are few, and mostly taken directly from L. formations, as chirurgical, clérical, grammatical, médical, etc. But in English they are exceedingly numerous, existing not only in all cases in which the term in -ic is a n., but also as the direct representatives of L. adjs. in -icus, F. -ique. Thus we find before 1500 canonical, chirurgical, domestical, musical, philosophical, physical. Many adjs. have a form both in -ic and -ical, and in such cases that in -ical is usually the earlier and that more used. Often also the form in -ic is restricted to the sense ‘of’ or ‘of the nature of’ the subject in question, while that in -ical has wider or more transferred senses, including that of ‘practically connected’ or ‘dealing with’ the subject. Cf. ‘economic science’, ‘an economical wife’, ‘prophetic words’, ‘prophetical studies’, ‘a comic song’, ‘a comical incident’, ‘the tragic muse’, ‘his tragical fate’. A historic book is one mentioned or famous in history, a historical treatise contains or deals with history. But in many cases this distinction is, from the nature of the subject, difficult to maintain, or entirely inappreciable.Adjectives of locality, nationality, and language, as Baltic, Arabic, Teutonic, and those of chemical and other technical nomenclature, as oxalic, ferric, pelagic, dactylic, hypnotic, megalithic, have usually no secondary form in -al.Hence some derivative ns. in -icality, as technicality.
-ical
adjectival suffix, mostly the same as -ic but sometimes with specialized sense (such as historic/historical), Middle English, from Late Latin -icalis, from Latin -icus + -alis.
☞ -al, -ial, -ical
-ical/ɪk(ə)l/suffix.
1.In adjectives from late or medieval Latin words in -icalis (formed by adding -alis to nouns in -icus or -ice), as clerical, grammatical, or formed directly in English from nouns in -ic, Latin adjectives in -icus, & French adjectives in -ique, asdomestical, fanatical, philosophical, theoretical: see -al1. To many adjectives in -ical there corresponds another in -ic, that in -ical usually being the earlier and the more commonly used.
2.In compound suffixes, as -ological.
-ical
suffix.
-ic, as in geometrical, parasitical, hysterical.
-ic, but specialized or differentiated in meaning, as in economical.
-ic + -al or -ics + -al, as in critical, musical, ethical, statistical.
[< Late Latin -icālis < -icus - ic + -ālis - al1]
-i·cal \ə̇kəl, ēk-\adjective suffix Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin -icalis (as in clericalis clerical, grammaticalis grammatical, radicalis radical) — more at clerical, grammatical, radical : -ic < cosmical > < fantastical > — sometimes differing from -ic in that adjectives formed with -ical have a wider or more transferred semantic range than corresponding adjectives in -ic < economical: economic > < prophetical: prophetic >
-ical
Suffix
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 Latin origin, but used with other words also.
mythical
theistical
whimsical
Etymology
Combination of -ic from French-ique, from Latin-icus, related to Ancient Greek suffix -ικός (-ikós), plus -al from Latin adjective suffix -alis, or French-el.
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 words suffixed with -ical
Related terms
-ic
-etic
-al
后缀:-ical [形容词后缀]
由-ic+-al而成,表示“...的”
atomical 原子的
typical 典型的
organical 器官的
cubical 立方形的
spherical 球形的
academical 学院的
symbolical 象征(性)的
geometrical 几何学的
cyclical 循环的
poetical 诗的
词根词缀:-ical
【来源及含义】Latin: from -icalis, a suffix that forms adjectives from nouns; of or having to do with; having the nature of; constituting or being; containing or made up of; made by or caused by; like, characteristic of; art or system of thought; chemical terms