The building blocks of English

Affixes

-etic

Forming adjectives and some nouns.

Greek ‑etikos or ‑ētikos.

For example, cosmetic comes from Greek kosmētikos, from kosmos, order or adornment; antibiotic from anti‑ plus biōtikos, fit for life, from bios, life; narcotic from narkōtikos, from narkoun, make numb. Others similarly formed include aesthetic, apologetic, ascetic, athletic, diuretic, energetic, pathetic, prophetic, synthetic, and theoretic. Such adjectives often have corresponding nouns in ‑esis. See also ‑atic, ‑itic, ‑otic, and ‑ic.