-ance

suffix forming nouns expressing:
1 a quality or state or an instance of one (arrogance; protuberance; relevance; resemblance).
2 an action (assistance; furtherance; penance).
Etymology: from or after F -ance f. L -antia, -entia (cf. -ENCE) f. pres. part. stem -ant-, -ent-

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\\ən(t)s, ^ən(t)s\ noun suffix (-s)

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -antia, from -ant-, -ans -ant + -ia -y

1. : action or process

attendance

deliverance

furtherance

: instance of an action or process

appearance

performance

2. : quality or state

resemblance

temperance

: instance of a quality or state

protuberance

3. : amount or degree

conductance

tramsittance

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

[ME < OF < L -antia -ANCY, equiv. to -ant- -ANT + -ia -Y³]

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-ance /-əns/

suffix

Forming nouns denoting an action, condition, or quality, as in surveillance, protuberance, repugnance

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-ance,

suffix forming nouns chiefly from verbs.

1. the act or fact of _____ing: »

Avoidance = the act or fact of avoiding.

2. the quality or state of being _____ed: »

Annoyance = the quality of being annoyed.

3. a thing that _____s: »

Conveyance = a thing that conveys.

4. what is _____ed: »

Contrivance = what is contrived.

5. the quality or state of being _____ant: »

Importance = the quality or state of being important.

╂[< French -ance < Latin -antia, -entia]

Usage Although the spelling of words ending in -ance and -ence, in -ancy and -ency, and in -ant and -ent differs, pronunciation of the members of each suffix pair is the same and the accepted spelling must be committed to memory.

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[əns; ns]

suffix forming nouns

1) denoting a quality or state or an instance of one

allegiance | extravagance | perseverance

2) denoting an action

appearance | utterance

•

Origin:

representing French suffix -ance, from Latin nouns ending in -antia, -entia (from present participial stems -ant-, -ent-)

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/əns/ noun suffix

: the action or process of doing something

avoidance

performance

acceptance

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-ance [-ance] -ence suffix

(in nouns) the action or state of

•

assistance

•

confidence

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-ance, suffix

a. Fr. -ance:—L. -ānt-ia, -ēnt-ia, -ent-ia (see -ence), all of which in words that survived into Fr., or were formed in Fr. as nouns of action, on the pres. pple., were levelled under -ance. But other L. words of this form, subseq. adopted in Fr., took -ence or -ance, according to L. spelling. Thus of popular preservation or formation, aidance, assistance, complaisance, nuisance, parlance, séance; of later learned adoption from L., absence, clémence, différence, diligence, providence, prudence, as well as élégance, tempérance. Words of both classes were adopted in Eng. in their actual Fr. forms, which they still generally retain. But, since 1500, various words orig. in -ance from Fr. have been altered back to -ence, after L.; and all words recently adopted from L., directly or through mod.Fr., or formed on L. analogies, have taken -ence or -ance according to the L. vowel. Hence, mod.E. words in -ance partly represent L. -āntia, but largely L. -entia, -ēntia, through OFr. -ance; partly also mod.Fr. -ance from vbs. of various origin. On the other hand, OFr. -ance:—L. -entia, -ēntia, is, in consequence of refashioning, partly represented by Eng. -ence. For the confusion and inconsistency which this causes in current spelling, as in dependance, -dence, resistance, subsistence, see -ence. As, in many cases, the OFr. vbs. themselves, as well as their derivatives in -ance, were adopted in Eng. (e.g. appear -ance, assist -ance, purvey -ance, suffer -ance), the suffix became to a certain extent a living formative, and was occas. used to form similar nouns of action on native vbs., as abid-ance, abear-ance, forbear-ance, further-ance, hinder-ance, ridd-ance, etc. For meaning, see -ence; and cf. -ancy.