-acity

suffix forming nouns of quality or state corresponding to adjectives in -acious.
Etymology: F -aciteacute or L -acitas -tatis

* * *

a complex noun suffix meaning "quality of" or "abounding in the characteristic of," appearing in loanwords from Latin: tenacity.

[ME -acite \<\< L -acitat- (s. of -acitas). See -ACIOUS, -ITY]

* * *

suffix forming nouns of quality or state corresponding to adjectives ending in -acious (such as audacity corresponding to audacious)

Origin:

from French -acité or Latin -acitas, noun endings

* * *

-acity

(-ˈæsɪtɪ)

formerly -acite, -acitie, compd. suffix. a. Fr. -acité, ad. L. -ācitāt-em (nom. -ācitās), f. -āci- (see -acious) + -tāt- (see -ty), according to the regular type of ns. of quality in -tāt-em f. 3rd decl. adjs. in -i-, as celeri-tāt-em, vorāci-tāt-em, voracity, the quality of being voracious. All the Fr. adjs. in -acité are literary adaptations of or formations on L. words; the Eng. are either adoptions of Fr. words, or analogous formations on L. adjs. Every adj. in -acious may have a n. of quality in -acity, on some of which are formed vbs. in -acitate; as cap-aci-ous, capaci-ty, capacit-ate.