Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “-aunce” come from?

-aunce (Middle English) comes from Old French -ance, from Latin -ia, from Latin -ius, from Proto-Italic -jōs, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.

Ancestry of “-aunce”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old French-ance-ance
2Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
3Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
4Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
5Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →