-ic

connected with or characteristic of

Forms

Through French and Latin -icus from Greek -ikos.

It can indicate a field, a material, a resemblance, or a tendency; it has no single literal meaning in every word.

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noun / adjective

The first note of a musical scale, serving as its tonal center.

Etymology

The Greek word developed a musical meaning of tone. The tonic is the governing tone that establishes the home position of a scale or key.