See Also: ance(dictionary)
ance(dictionary)

ance (iou)



-ance suffix.
[French from Latin (i) -antia, from pres. ppl stems in -ant- -ANT1, (ii) -entia: see -ENCE.]
Forming nouns of quality (or instances of it), as arrogance, relevance, or of action, as assistance, penance. Since 16 many words ending in -ance from French have been altered back to -ence after Latin, and more recent words have taken -ance or -ence according to the Latin vowel (hence much inconsistency, as dependence, dependance, resistance, subsistence). Through such pairs as appear, appearance it became to some extent a living suffix and was appended to verbs of non-Romance origin, as forbear, forbearance, hinder, hindrance, rid, riddance. Now a common formative element in techn. terms, as absorbance. Cf. -ANCY.