-ergicsuff. Activated or produced by: cholinergic.[Greek ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European roots + -ic.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-ergic a combining form with the meanings ?activated by,? ?sensitive to,? ?releasing,? ?resembling the effect produced by? the substance or phenomenon specified by the initial element: dopaminergic. [appar. orig. in adrenergic and cholinergic, probably on the model of allergic] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.