-ance, -ancy

1. A more than plentiful quantity of something.
2. A lifestyle with more than adequate material provisions.
3. A fullness of spirit that overflows.
4. The extent to which an element is present in the earth or in a rock.
5. The proportion of one isotope of an element, expressed by number of atoms, to the total quantity of the element.
6. Etymology: nothing suggests great abundance more vividly than overflowing waves; and that is the literal meaning of the word abundance.

In Latin, unda means "wave", poetically "sea". The Romans combined ab, "from", and unda into the word abundare, "to overflow"; literally, "to come from the waves" or "from the sea"; applied to anything very plentiful.

The stem of abundare resulted in the English verb abound, and a derivative provided the noun abundance. Inundate, "to flood", also comes from unda, as does undulate, "to move like the waves".

1. A cause of irritation or vexation; a nuisance.
2. The act of troubling or annoying someone.
3. Something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness.
4. Anger produced by some irritation.
5. An unpleasant person who is annoying or exasperating.
6. The psychological state of being irritated or annoyed.

1. Deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening.
2. The act of keeping away from somebody or something.
3. The act of refraining from doing something or preventing something from happening.
4. In law, the act of making something void or invalid.
5. A conscious or unconscious defense mechanism consisting of refusal to encounter situations, activities, or objects that would produce anxiety or conflict.

1. A condition or fact attending an event and having some bearing on it; a determining or modifying factor.
2. A condition or fact that determines or must be considered in the determining of a course of action.
3. The sum of determining factors beyond willful control; such as, a victim of circumstances.
4. A detail accompanying or surrounding an event; such as, in a narrative or series of events.
5. A formal display or ceremony; such as, the pomp and circumstance of a coronation.
6. A particular incident or occurrence.

1. Conscious knowledge or recognition; awareness.
2. The range of what one can know or understand.
3. Observance; notice: "We will take cognizance of your objections at the proper time."
4. In law, acknowledgment, recognition, or jurisdiction; the assumption of jurisdiction in a case.
5. In heraldry, a crest or badge worn to distinguish the bearer.

1. A secret joint conspiracy or plotting; the act of conniving with someone.
2. Tacit encouragement or assent to some kind of wrongdoing; unspoken encouragement of or consent (without participation) to wrongdoing by someone else.
3. Pretended ignorance or secret encouragement of wrongdoing.

1. The act of disturbing.
2. The state of being disturbed; a commotion.
3. Something that disturbs.
4. An outbreak of disorder; a breach of public peace.
5. In meteorology: any cyclonic storm or low-pressure area, usually a small one.
6. In geology: a crustal movement of moderate intensity, somewhat restricted in area.
7. An electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication.
8. In archeology: the changing or altering of an archeological context by the effect(s) of an unrelated activity at a later time.

Examples include dam building, farming, and heavy construction; as well as, noncultural activities such as freeze-thaw cycles, landslides, and simple erosion. "Disturbance" is also the nonscientific removal of an artifact from its archaeological context.

1. Having a certain degree of unwillingness to do something.
2. An involuntary delay or an inability in starting something.

Evil-doing; specifically, official misconduct on the part of someone in public employment.

1. A movement of the body expressing deep respect or deferential courtesy, as before a superior; a bow, curtsy, or other similar gesture.
2. An attitude or behavior of someone who pays respect or homage to somebody or something.