ická

ická is a suffix used in the Czech and Slovak languages to form feminine adjectives from masculine stems ending in -ický. It is part of the three-way gendered adjective endings in these languages, where the masculine singular nominative ending is typically -ický, the feminine singular nominative is -ická, and the neuter singular nominative is -ické. The suffix signals agreement with a feminine noun and often denotes relation, origin, or characteristic associated with the root.

Morphology and usage are straightforward: attach -ická to the stem of a masculine adjective in -ický to yield the feminine form. For example, historický (masculine: historical) becomes historická (feminine: historical, referring to a feminine noun), technický → technická, politický → politická. The feminine form is used when describing feminine nouns, as in historická budova (a historical building) or technická zpráva (a technical report). In compound or attributive phrases, the feminine -ická form agrees with the noun it modifies.

Etymology traces the ending to the adjectival pattern in West Slavic languages, with -ický as a productive suffix for forming adjectives from nouns or participial stems; -ická is the corresponding feminine ending. The pair -ický/-ická/-ické is parallel to other gendered adjective endings in Czech and Slovak, such as -ský/-ská/-ské or -ní/-ní, reflecting standard inflectional harmony.

See also: adjectival suffixes in Czech and Slovak, gendered adjective endings, and related suffixes such as -ský and -ské.