-ancesuffix

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French -ance (French -ance ) < classical Latin -antia < -ant- , present participial stem of a -stem verbs (see -ant suffix¹) + -ia , suffix forming nouns (see -y suffix³). Compare -ancy suffix. Compare also -ence suffix and -ency suffix.Origin of the French suffix. In Old French, forms descending from classical Latin -antia as well as the more common -entia (see -ence suffix) were generally levelled under -ance , parallel with the underlying present participle forms (see -ant suffix¹); compare (ultimately based on verbs with different stem classes in Latin) e.g. Old French observance ( < classical Latin observantia : see observance n.), Old French penance ( < classical Latin paenitentia : see penance n.), and also Anglo-Norman and Middle French resistance (Old French resistence ; < post-classical Latin resistentia : see resistance n.). Borrowings from Latin into French in the Middle Ages or later usually retain the vowel of the Latin ending, e.g. Middle French elegance ( < classical Latin ēlegantia : see elegance n.), as opposed to Middle French prudence ( < classical Latin prūdentia : see prudence n. and compare -ence suffix); however, these can also occur alongside forms with -ance , especially in Anglo-Norman, e.g. Anglo-Norman and Middle French reverence , reverance ( < classical Latin reverentia : see reverence n.). Borrowings into English. Borrowings into English from French are attested from the beginning of the 13th cent. (e.g. ignorance n., pittance n.); forms of the suffix like -aunce suggest that these were originally stressed on the final syllable. In some cases, it is unclear whether the borrowing was originally from French or Latin, and it is likely that both languages had some input (e.g. pittance n., observance n.). In some other cases, the English word is borrowed from an word formed within French, without a Latin antecedent (e.g. quittance n., acquaintance n.). Borrowings which are clearly directly from Latin can be found from the beginning of the 15th cent. (e.g. significance n. and quietance n., as opposed to earlier signifiance n. and quittance n., both from French). Variation between forms with -ance and -ence in French is often also reflected by the forms of English borrowings (see the discussion at -ence suffix). Development of the English suffix. In many cases, when a French verb was borrowed into English, a derivative with -ance appears in both languages at an early date. In these cases it can be difficult to tell whether the derivative was borrowed from French or formed within English, and it is likely that both processes were often involved to some extent (compare e.g. remembrance n., recoverance n.). In some cases, the suffix was added in English to a verb of French origin, but used differently from the parallel French formation (e.g. recoverance n., obeyance n.). An early example of an English formation without French parallels is summonance n. In the first half of the 15th cent., the English suffix was also used to form nouns based on verbs of ultimately Germanic origin (e.g. festinance n.¹, utterance n.¹, hindrance n., furtherance n.).