Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

-ance

Origin

a suffix used to form nouns either from adjectives in -ant or from verbs: brilliance; appearance.

Origin:
Middle English < Old French < Latin -antia -ancy, equivalent to -ant- -ant + -ia -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To -ance

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

-ance is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

-ance or -ancy

—*suffix forming nouns*
	Compare -ence indicating an action, state or condition, or quality: hindrance; tenancy; resemblance

[via Old French from Latin -antia; see -ancy]

-ancy or -ancy

—*suffix forming nouns*

[via Old French from Latin -antia; see -ancy]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

-ance

suffix attached to verbs to form abstract nouns of process or fact (convergence from converge), or of state or quality (absence from absent); ult. from L. -antia and -entia, which depended on the vowel in the stem word. As Old French evolved from Latin, these were leveled to -ance, but later French borrowings

EXPAND

from Latin (some of them subsequently passed to English) used the appropriate Latin form of the ending, as did words borrowed by English directly from Latin (diligence, absence). English thus inherited a confused mass of words from French and further confused it since c.1500 by restoring -ence selectively in some forms of these words to conform with Latin. Thus dependant, but independence, etc.

COLLAPSE

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help