-ance

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A suffix of Latin origin, forming nouns from adjectives in -ant, or directly from verbs, as significance, defiance, purveyance, etc.; also used with native English verbs, as in abidance, forbearance, furtherance, hindrance, riddance, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• A suffix signifying action; also, quality or state. See -ancy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• suffix Added to the stem of a verb to form a noun indicating a state or condition, such as result or capacity, associated with the verb.
• suffix A process or action.