-escent

The suffix -escent denotes adjectives expressing the beginning of an action or process. It is occasionally used in scientific and technical terms.

The form -escent comes from the Latin participle-forming suffix -ēscēns, roughly meaning “becoming,” which is based on the verbal suffix -ēscere, 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 -escent?

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

One example of a term that features the form -escent is iridescent, “displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.”

The form irid- means “rainbow,” from Greek îris. As we have seen, -escent indicates the beginning of an action or process. Iridescent literally translates to “beginning to be a rainbow.”

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

• acaulescent
• adolescent (using the equivalent form of -escent in Latin)
• arborescent (using the equivalent form of -escent in Latin)
• caulescent
• evanescent (using the equivalent form of -escent in Latin)
• luminescent
• opalescent

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

• -ence
• -ese
• -esque
• -ess

The word lumen (stem lumin-) in Latin means “light.” With this in mind, what does luminescent mean?