-ficsuffix

Etymology: < French -fique and its etymon classical Latin -ficus -making, -doing ( < the stem of facere to make, do (see fact n.), with vowel weakening), forming adjectives (1) from nouns, with the sense ‘making, causing, producing’, as in honōrificus honorific adj., pācificus pacific adj.¹, or ‘performing’, as sacrificus sacrific adj.¹; (2) from adjectives, with the sense ‘performing actions of a certain kind’, as magnificus magnific adj., also (in post-classical Latin) with the sense ‘bringing into a specified state’, as beātificus beatific adj.; (3) from verbs, with the sense ‘causing to’, as horrificus horrific adj., terrificus terrific adj.; (4) from adverbs, only in beneficus benefic adj., maleficus malefic adj., adjectives corresponding to the phrases bene , male facere to do good, do ill (to). Except in the two last-mentioned words, and in venēficus venefic adj. (contraction for *venēnificus ), the suffix -ficus is always preceded by -i- , which is either the stem-vowel or a substitute for it, or a connecting vowel appended to a consonant-stem (compare -i- connective; -ific comb. form). In English the suffix probably first occurred in adoptions from French, like magnific adj., and was in earlier use frequently spelt -fique . In post-classical Latin and scientific Latin new formations with -ficus (also -ificus ) were very common, and many of them have passed, in adapted forms, into the Romance languages and English, e.g. prolific adj., scientific adj. In scientific nomenclature new words are still sometimes formed by the addition of the representative of -ficus (or -ificus ) to Latin stems; such words, if accepted at all, are usually of international currency, and it is often uncertain in which language they were first used; English examples are acidific adj., chylific adj., felicific adj., morbific adj.Compare French -fique (also -ifique ), Italian -fico , Spanish -fico , Portuguese -fico . Several Latin adjectives in -ficus form their comparatives and superlatives, and their nouns of quality, from a stem in -ficent- . In English (but not in Romance) the adapted forms of these words end in -ficent , as beneficent adj., magnificent adj., maleficent adj., munificent adj.