Origin and history of -ics

-ics

in the names of sciences or disciplines (acoustics, aerobics, economics, etc.), a 16c. revival of the classical custom of using the neuter plural of adjectives with Greek -ikos "pertaining to" (see -ic) to mean "matters relevant to" and also as the titles of treatises about them. Subject matters that acquired their English names before c. 1500, however, tend to be singular in form (arithmetic, logic, magic, music, rhetoric). The grammatical number of words in -ics (mathematics is/mathematics are) is a confused question.

also from 16c.

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Entries linking to -ics

acoustics(n.)

1680s, "the science of sound," from acoustic; also see -ics. The meaning "acoustic properties" of a building, etc., is attested from 1885.

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acrobatics(n.)

1859, "acrobatic performances or feats," from acrobatic; also see -ics. Also acrobatism (1864). Acrobacy (1918, from French acrobatie) sometimes was used. Figurative use is attested by 1915.

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analytics
"the division of logic which distinguishes good from bad arguments," 1590s, from Latin analytica from Greek analytika, from stem of analyein "unloose, release, set free," from ana "up, back, throughout" (see ana-) + lysis "a loosening," from lyein "to unfasten" (from PIE root *le
calisthenics
also callisthenics, kind of light gymnastics, 1842, (the adjective calisthenic/callisthenic, of exercises, was in use by 1837), formed on model of French callisthenie, from Latinized combining form of Greek kallos "beauty" (see Callisto) + sthenos "strength, power, ability, might
civics
"the science of government, study of the rights and responsibilities of a citizen," 1885, in American Institute of Civics, incorporated May 1885, from civic, by analogy with politics (see -ics). "The term 'Civics,' however unfamiliar the word, could be wisely applied with a broa
abyss
late 14c. in Latin form abyssus, "depths of the earth or sea; primordial chaos;" early 14c. as abime "depths of the earth or sea; bottomless pit, Hell" (via Old French; see abysm). Both are from Late Latin abyssus "bottomless pit," from Greek abyssos (limnē) "bottomless (pool),"
nostalgia
1726, "morbid longing to return to one's home or native country, severe homesickness considered as a disease," Modern Latin, coined 1688 in a dissertation on the topic at the University of Basel by scholar Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) as a rendering of German heimweh "homesickness"
fiction
early 15c., ficcioun, "that which is invented or imagined in the mind," from Old French ficcion "dissimulation, ruse; invention, fabrication" (13c.) and directly from Latin fictionem (nominative fictio) "a fashioning or feigning," noun of action from past participle stem of finge
prism
1560s, in geometry, "a solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane polygons, and whose sides are parallelograms" (not always triangular), from Late Latin prisma, from Greek prisma "a geometrical prism, trilateral column," (Euclid), literally "something sa
eminent
early 15c., "standing or rising above other places; exceeding other things in quality or degree;" from Old French éminent "prominent" (13c.) or directly from Latin eminentem (nominative eminens) "standing out, projecting, prominent, high," figuratively "distinguished, distinctive
tartar
"bitartrate of potash, sediment of potassium tartarate" (a deposit left during fermentation), late 14c., from Old French tartre and directly from Medieval Latin tartarum, from late Greek tartaron "tartar encrusting the sides of wine casks," a word perhaps of Semitic origin, but i
contemplation
c. 1200, contemplacioun, "religious musing," from Old French contemplation and directly from Latin contemplationem (nominative contemplatio) "act of looking at," noun of action from past-participle stem of contemplari "to gaze attentively, observe; consider, contemplate," origina
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