DictionaryRoot: -entia
Latin
-entia
a state or quality
Forms
- -entia
- -ence — The ending shortened through French.
- -ency — An English form used in some nouns.
Origin
Formed in Latin from -ent-, describing someone or something doing an action, plus a noun ending.
Note
A temporary activity can become the name of a lasting quality.
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noun
agency
AY-jun-see/ˈeɪdʒənsi/
An organization charged with providing a particular service.
Etymology
The root meaning “do” underlies agency’s earlier sense of active operation. The word later named an establishment doing business for another, connecting action with an organization that provides a service.
Related word entries
- abstinence
- adherence
- adolescence
- affluence
- agency
- appearance
- assistance
- audiencePeople receiving a presentation or message
- audienceFormal meeting
- coherence
- competence
- competency
- concurrence
- conference
- confidence
- confluence
- consequence
- convenience
- correspondence
- credenceChurch table
- credenceBelief
- decadence
- decency
- deficiency
- dependence
- difference
- differential
- differentiate
- diligence
- divergence
- effulgence
- eloquence
- evidence
- excellency
- existence
- experience
- florescence
- imprudence
- impudence
- incidence
- indecency
- indifference
- indolence
- inference
- innocence
- intelligenceGathered information
- intelligenceMental ability
- irreverence
- malevolence
- munificence
- negligence
- obedience
- occurrence
- penitence
- preference
- prevalence
- providence
- pubescence
- regency
- residence
- reticence
- reverence
- subsistence
- sufferance
- sustenance
- tendency
- translucence
- transparency