-escent
a suffix of adjectives borrowed from latin, where it had an inchoative force; often corresponding to verbs in -esce and nouns in -escence: convalescent; recrudescent.
-escent
suffix
beginning to be, do, show, etc convalescent, luminescent
derived forms
word origin
Read Also:
- -ese
a suffix forming adjectival derivatives of place names, especially countries or cities; frequently used nominally to denote the inhabitants of the place or their language: faroese; j-panese; vietnamese; viennese . by -n-logy with such language names, -ese, occurs in coinages denoting in a disparaging, often facetious way a characteristic jargon, style, or accent: brooklynese; bureaucratese; […]
- -esis
a suffix of greek origin used to form nouns of action or process: ecesis. -esis suff. condition, action, or process: centesis.
- -esque
an adjective suffix indicating style, manner, resemblance, or distinctive character: arabesque; romanesque; picturesque. -esque suffix indicating a specified character, manner, style, or resemblance picturesque, romanesque, statuesque, chaplinesque word origin -esque fr. -esque “like, in the manner of,” from it. -esco, like m.l. -iscus from a germanic source (cf. o.h.g. -isc, ger. -isch, english -ish (see […]
- -ess
a suffix forming distinctively feminine nouns: countess; goddess; lioness. usage note -ess suffix indicating a female waitress, lioness usage note word origin -ess fem. suffix, from fr. -esse, from l.l. -issa, from gk. -issa (cognate with o.e. fem. agent suffix -icge); rare in cl-ssical gk., but more common later, in diakonissa “deaconess” and other church […]
- -est
a suffix forming the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs: warmest; fastest; soonest. -est2 a native english suffix formerly used to form the second person singular indicative of verbs: knowest; sayest; goest. origin -est1 suffix forming the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs shortest, fastest word origin -est2 suffix forming the archaic second person singular […]