ic

Ic is a term that can refer to several concepts across different fields, and there is no single, universal definition. In technical contexts, it often appears as an abbreviation or symbol, and its meaning depends on the domain being discussed.

In electronics and physics, Ic commonly denotes current. It can refer to the collector current in transistor models, the current flowing through a transistor’s collector. It is also used as I_c to indicate the critical current in superconductors—the maximum current a superconducting material can carry without losing its superconducting state. Separately, IC (usually capitalized as IC) stands for integrated circuit, a compact electronic chip containing many transistors and other components.

In language and linguistics, ic is a widespread suffix in English. The letters -ic derive from Greek and are used to form many adjectives and some nouns, such as electric, historic, and artistic. The suffix appears in thousands of words and plays a central role in English morphology.

In numerals, IC is a nonstandard way some writers used to denote 99 in Roman numerals. The conventional and widely accepted notation is XCIX. The use of IC for 99 is generally discouraged in formal writing due to potential confusion.

Overall, Ic functions mainly as an abbreviation, symbol, or suffix, with applications in technology, science, language, and historic numeral notation, depending on context.