-esce

From Latin -ēscere (inchoative suffix), form of -ēscō (“I become”). Compare -ish (Etymology 2).

• IPA^(key): /-ˈɛs/

-esce

1. Used to form verbs from nouns, following the pattern of verbs derived from Latin verbs ending in -esco

• This is a termination of verbs of Latin origin, having usually an inchoative force, as in convalesce (“begin to be well”) or effervesce (“begin to boil up”), though less obvious in some verbs, as coalesce.
• The present participle of such verbs appears in English as adjectives with the termination -escent, as in effervescent, but such adjectives often exist without a corresponding verb with -esce.
• The noun is terminated with -escence, as in convalescence or effervescence.

• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “-esce”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume II, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 2002, column 2.

• EECS, cees