Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Being nine more than ninety: A numerical term representing the quantity ninety-nine (99).

2. Noun:

   • A group of government agencies and organizations that carry out intelligence activities for the United States government; headed by the Director of Central Intelligence: A specific abbreviation for the Intelligence Community, the collective body of U.S. agencies involved in intelligence gathering and analysis.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The total number of items was ic. (The total number of items was ninety-nine.)
• Noun:
  • The report was compiled from information gathered across the IC. (The report was compiled from information gathered across the Intelligence Community.)
  • Cooperation between members of the IC is essential for national security.

Advanced Usage

• The adjectival use ("ic") for the number 99 is extremely rare in modern English and is primarily found in very specific, often poetic or archaic, contexts. The standard written form is "ninety-nine" or the numeral "99".
• The nominal use ("IC") is a formal initialism. It is almost always capitalized when referring to the U.S. Intelligence Community and is typically used with the definite article " IC".

Variants and Related Words

• Intelligence Community (n): The full, unabbreviated form of the noun "IC".
• XCIX: The Roman numeral for 99, which is the equivalent of the adjectival "ic".

Synonyms

• Adjective: ninety-nine, 99.
• Noun: intelligence apparatus, intelligence agencies.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The two definitions are homographs (spelled the same) but are entirely unrelated in meaning and origin.
• The numerical adjective is obsolete.
• The noun is a specialized term from U.S. government and national security discourse. Outside of this context, "IC" can stand for other terms (e.g., Integrated Circuit, Internal Combustion), but these are distinct abbreviations, not definitions of the standalone word form "ic".

Adjective

1. being nine more than ninety

Noun

1. a group of government agencies and organizations that carry out intelligence activities for the United States government; headed by the Director of Central Intelligence