-ance

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Definition of -ance

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

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Origin of -ance

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

Words nearby -ance

anba, anbury, ANC, Ancaeus, Ancaster, -ance, ancestor, ancestor worship, ancestral, ancestress, ancestry

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use -ance in a sentence

An' then, a' at ance, the minister's heart played dunt an' stood stock-still; an' a cauld wund blew amang the hairs o' his heid.
Masterpieces of Mystery, Vol. 1 (of 4)|Various
"I had ance a kin' o' notion o' Bell mysel," continued Sanders.
Auld Licht Idylls|J. M. Barrie
God keep ill gear out o' my hands; for if my hands ance get it, my heart winna part wi't,—sae prayed the gude Earl of Eglinton.
The Proverbs of Scotland|Alexander Hislop
Davie tell't me how you stood up and saluted him, and I was glad I'd kissed ye ance upon a time, though it was only to plague ye.
The Yeoman Adventurer|George W. Gough

Ance a woman is the wife of any man, she becomes wife to all men for having had the wifely experience she kens!
Freckles|Gene Stratton-Porter

British Dictionary definitions for -ance

-ance

-ancy

suffix forming nouns

indicating an action, state or condition, or qualityhindrance; tenancy; resemblance Compare -ence

Word Origin for -ance

via Old French from Latin -antia; see -ancy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012