| a suffix of nouns denoting action or process, change, state or condition, etc., and corresponding to verbs ending in -esce or adjectives ending in -escent: convalescence; luminescence. |
| -escence suff. State; process. Used to form nouns from adjectives in -escent or verbs in -esce: fluorescence. [French, from Old French, from Latin -ēscentia, from -ēscēns, -ēscent-, -escent.] |
