Which suffix means 'relating to' or 'like'?

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The form that signals "relating to" or "having the character of" is the suffix that turns a root into an adjective describing a relationship or quality. Attach -ic to a base, and you get a word like electric, meaning related to electricity, or poetic, meaning related to poetry. This suffix is specifically about belonging to or resembling the thing named by the root.

Other suffixes shift the meaning in different ways. -ical also conveys relation or characteristic, but it’s used in different word formations (for example, historical), often after a larger base. -ish suggests a weaker, approximate similarity (reddish = somewhat red). -ist denotes a person who practices or specializes in something, not a relation or likeness.