tic

See also: Appendix:Variations of "tic"

Translingual

Symbol

tic

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Tira.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Tira terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪk
• Homophone: tick

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French tic.

Noun

tic (plural tics)

1. (neurology) A sudden, nonrhythmic motor movement or vocalization.
   • 2020, Andrea E. Cavanna, Pharmacological Treatment of Tics, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 9:

     Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by multiple tics. A tic is a sudden, rapid, repetitive, non-rhythmic movement (e.g. eye blinking) or vocalization (e.g. throat clearing).

2. (by extension) Something that is done or produced habitually or characteristically.
   • 2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in the Guardian‎:

     Boyle revives some of the stylistic tics which found themselves being ripped off by geezer-gangster Britflicks back in the day, but now the freezeframes are briefer, sharper; the movie itself refers back to the original with variant flashback versions of famous scenes, but also Super 8-type images of the boys’ poignant boyhood in primary school.

Translations

local and habitual convulsive motion

Bulgarian: тик m (tik) Catalan: tic m Chinese: Mandarin: 抽搐 (zh) (chōuchù) Czech: tik (cs) m Dutch: tic (nl) m Esperanto: tiko Finnish: nykimisoire French: tic (fr) m German: Tic (de) m, Zucken (de) n, nervöses Zucken n Japanese: チック (ja) (chikku) Korean: 틱 (tik) Macedonian: тик m (tik) Polish: tik (pl) Portuguese: tique (pt), cacoete (pt) Romanian: tic (ro) n Russian: тик (ru) m (tik), не́рвный тик m (nérvnyj tik), подёргивание (ru) n (podjórgivanije) Spanish: tic (es) m, chiripiorca (es) f (striking, Puerto Rico) Swedish: ryckning (sv) c, tic ? Urdu: حرکی f (harki)

Verb

tic (third-person singular simple present tics, present participle ticcing, simple past and past participle ticced)

1. (intransitive) To exhibit a tic; to undergo a sudden, semi-voluntary muscle movement.
   • 2020, Andrea E. Cavanna, Pharmacological Treatment of Tics, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 9:

     Patients often describe the need to tic as the mounting of inner tension, localized either to the body region where the tic is about to occur or throughout the body.

Translations

to undergo a muscle movement

Esperanto: tiki Maori: timu, tumu

Etymology 2

Clipping of ticket.

Noun

tic (plural tics)

1. (informal) Clipping of ticket.

Derived terms

• tix

See also

• tic douloureux
• tic tac
• tic-tac-toe
• trip tic

Further reading

• tic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• CTI, ICT, TCI, cit, cit.

Acholi

Etymology 1

Noun

tic

1. work, working
2. job, occupation, profession

Etymology 2

Adjective

tic

1. moist, damp, wet

References

• Blackings, Mairi John (2009), Acholi English – English Acholi Dictionary‎, Munich: LINCOM GmbH, →ISBN, page 122

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈtik]

Noun

tic m (plural tics)

1. tic

Further reading

• “tic” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “tic”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “tic”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

French

Etymology

Onomatopoeic; originally of horses in the 17th century. Compare Italian ticchio with a similar meaning.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tik/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Homophone: tique

Noun

tic m (plural tics)

1. tic

Descendants

• → English: tic
• → German: Tic
• → Portuguese: tique

Further reading

• “tic”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.