释义 |
-geniccomb. form Primary stress is attracted to the first syllable of this combining form and vowels may be reduced accordingly. Origin: Either (i) a borrowing from French, combined with an English element. Or (ii) a borrowing from Greek, combined with an English element. Etymons: French -gène , -ic suffix; Greek -γενής , -ic suffix. Etymology: < French -gène or its etymon ancient Greek -γενής (see -gen comb. form) + -ic suffix. In sense 2 after photogenic adj. 4.Formations are found from the early 19th cent. onwards. Compare French -génique , German -genisch , post-classical Latin -genicus , formations in all of which are found from the early 19th cent. onwards (compare e.g. forms listed at pathogenic adj.). Formations in sense 1 are frequently after nouns in -geny comb. form or -genesis comb. form. Many formations have synonyms in -genous comb. form, -genetic comb. form, or both. For late 19th-cent. comment on this, compare:1896 Amer. Naturalist 30 442 There is some confusion between the two termination ‘genic’ and ‘genetic’. I think the proper distinction is that which reserves the former, ‘genic’, for application in cases in which the word to which it is affixed qualifies a term used actively, while the other, ‘genetic’, conveys similarly a passive signification; thus agencies, causes, influences, etc., and ‘ontogenic, phylogenic, etc.’, while effects, consequences, etc., and ‘ontogenetic, phylogenetic, etc.’ This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online September 2021). < comb. form |