indicating an action, state, condition, or quality: benevolence, residence, patience
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
-ence, suffix.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- -ence is attached to some adjectives ending in -ent to form nouns with the meaning "quality or state of'':abstin(ent) + -ence → abstinence.
- -ence is also attached to some verb roots to form nouns:depend + -ence → dependence.See -ance, -ent.
-ence,
- a noun suffix equivalent to -ance, corresponding to the suffix -ent in adjectives:abstinence; dependence;difference.
- Latin -entia, equivalent. to -ent- -ent + -ia -y3
- Old French
- Middle English
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'-ence' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-ance
- -ency
- Bachelor of Science
- Christian Science
- Committee of Correspondence
- Providence
- abhorrence
- abscondence
- abstinence
- accede
- accrescence
- acquiescence
- adherence
- adolescence
- advertence
- affluence
- antecedence
- antiscience
- appendant
- appetence
- ascendancy
- assistance
- audience
- behavioral science
- belligerence
- beneficence
- beneficent
- benevolence
- big science
- biobehavioral science
- cadency
- circumference
- codependent
- cognitive science
- coherence
- coherence theory
- coincidence
- competence
- computer science
- concrescence
- concupiscence
- concurrence
- condescendence
- condolence
- conference
- confidence
- confluence
- congruence
- connivance
- consentience