Definition of: ics

1. Art, science, or field of study of: mathematics.
2. Methods, practices, or activities of: athletics. [See –IC]♦ –ic, –ics
Adjectives in Greek, ending in –ikē (feminine singular) and –ika (neuter plural) were often used as nouns to indicate the names of arts or the various departments of life and knowledge. These words were borrowed, through Latin -ica, as singular nouns in the Romance languages and later into English. After the 16th century, it became customary to use the plural form in -ics, on analogy with Greek –ika: optics, logistics, acoustics. Nouns ending in –ics are construed as singular when they strictly denote an art, science, or system (as, mathematics is difficult; politics offers an uncertain future); they are construed as plural if they denote personal attributes (as, his mathematics are poor; his politics are suspect), if they denote inherent qualities (as, the acoustics are bad) or specific activities (as, athletics are compulsory; hysterics are unseemly; our tactics are superior to the enemy's).