"of or pertaining to psychoanalysis," 1902; see psychoanalysis + -ic.
Entries linking to psychoanalytic
psychoanalysis n.
"the theory or therapy of treating mental disorders by investigating unconscious elements and bringing repressed fears and conflicts to the patient's awareness," from Psychoanalyse, coined 1896 in French by Freud from Latinized form of Greek psykhē "the soul, mind, spirit; understanding" (see psyche) + German Analyse, from Greek analysis (see analysis). Freud earlier used psychische analyse (1894).
-ic
Middle English -ik, -ick, word-forming element making adjectives, "having to do with, having the nature of, being, made of, caused by, similar to," from French -ique and directly from Latin -icus or from cognate Greek -ikos "in the manner of; pertaining to." From PIE adjective suffix *-(i)ko, which also yielded Slavic -isku, adjectival suffix indicating origin, the source of the -sky (Russian -skii) in many surnames. In chemistry, indicating a higher valence than names in -ous (first in benzoic, 1791).
In Middle English and after often spelled -ick, -ike, -ique. Variant forms in -ick (critick, ethick) were common in early Modern English and survived in English dictionaries into early 19c. This spelling was supported by Johnson but opposed by Webster, who prevailed.