-escent

American  

1. a suffix of adjectives borrowed from Latin, where it expresses the beginning of an action or process; often corresponding to verbs ending in -esce and nouns ending in -escence: convalescent; recrudescent.

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-escent British  

suffix

1. beginning to be, do, show, etc

   convalescent

   luminescent

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Usage

What does -escent mean? The suffix -escent denotes adjectives expressing the beginning of an action or process. It is occasionally used in scientific and technical terms. The form -escent comes from the Latin participle-forming suffix -ēscēns, roughly meaning “becoming,” which is based on the verbal suffix -ēscere, an inchoative (also known as inceptive) element meaning “to become, begin to be.” There are two equivalents of -ēscere in English: -en, as in darken and strengthen, and -fy or -ify, as in liquefy or simplify. What are variants of -escent?While -escent doesn't have any variants, it is related to the forms -esce in verbs and -escence in nouns. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles on -esce and -escence.

Other Word Forms

• -escence suffix

Etymology

Origin of -escent

From Latin, stem of -ēscēns, present participle ending