-esce

1. a suffix appearing in verbs borrowed from Latin, where it had an inchoative meaning:

   convalesce; putresce.

Word History and Origins

Origin of -esce¹

From the Latin suffix -ēscere

Example Sentences

Archbishop Manning declared some years ago, in a speech received with enthusiastic applause by the Roman dignitaries, “La Chiesa Cattolica di oggidí esce tutta nuova del fianco del Vicario di Gesù Cristo.”

From Project Gutenberg

E campa e ancor quivi di fuor n’esce.

From Project Gutenberg

Quando esce di Palazzo, suole montare in un cocchio coperto di tela incerata, et serrata a modo che non si vede.....

From Project Gutenberg

The poem is a contention between an upland and a lowland shepherd, and begins in genuine pastoral fashion: Come Titan del seno dell' aurora Esce, così con le mie pecorelle I monti cerco sema far dimora.

From Project Gutenberg

Qual mattutina stella esce de l'onde     Rugiadosa e stillante: o come fuore   Spuntò nascendo già da le feconde     Spume de l'ocean la Dea d'Amore:   Tale apparve costei: tal le sue bionde     Chiome stillavan cristallino umore.

From Project Gutenberg

Words That Use -esce

What does -esce mean?

The suffix -esce is used to denote verbs that refer to beginning, in the sense of “having become” or “begin to be.” It is occasionally used in everyday and technical terms.

The form -esce comes from the Latin verbal suffix -ēscere, which is 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 -esce?

While -esce doesn’t have any variants, it is related to the forms -escence in nouns and -escent in adjectives. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles about -escence and -escent.

Examples of -esce

One example of a scientific term that uses the suffix -esce is phosphoresce, “to be luminous without sensible heat, as phosphorus.”

The first part of the word is an abbreviation of phosphorus, a chemical that emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen, from Latin phōsphorus, meaning “morning star.” The suffix -esce means “to begin to be.” Phosphoresce roughly translates to “to begin to be [like] a star.”

What are some words that use the combining form -esce?

• convalesce (using the equivalent form of -esce in Latin)
• effloresce (using the equivalent form of -esce in Latin)
• opalesce
• putresce

What are some other forms that -esce may be commonly confused with?

• -ese
• -esque
• -ess

Break it down!

The Latin word for “to be well” is valēre (stem val-). With this in mind, what does convalesce mean?