-acy

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-acy suffix repr. (i) L. -ācia, forming nouns of quality on adjs. in -āx, -āc-, as fallācia fallacy (the corr. Eng. adjs. ending in -ACIOUS); (ii) L. -ātia, in medL. often -ācia, as abbātia abbacy; (iii) medL. -ātia, forming nouns of state on sbs. in -ātus, as advocātia advocacy, on the anal. of which the suffix was extended to Eng. sbs. in -ate, as confederacy, and to adjs. in -ate, as accuracy, privacy.

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