-esce

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.

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

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