-itic
Forming adjectives and nouns.
[French -itique, via Latin -iticus from Greek -itikos.]
One group of adjectives derives from nouns in -ite (see -ite1), of which a few examples are anthracitic, bauxitic, dendritic, graphitic, parasitic, Semitic, and stalagmitic. Another set comes from nouns ending in -itis: arthritic, bronchitic, laryngitic, meningitic. A few come from other sources, such as syphilitic, Sanskritic, or Cushitic (of a group of East African languages whose name derives from Cush, grandson of Noah). A few of these adjectives can also be nouns. See also -ic.
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