Significaunce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being important or having a meaningful effect, an archaic spelling of a word meaning the weight something carries
2. An older form of the word for the importance something holds or the meaning it conveys to those who consider it
3. Archaic spelling denoting the consequence, weight, or meaning that a thing or event carries in a given context

Etymology: "Significaunce" is an obsolete English noun meaning "significance" or "meaning," and the spelling reflects its French origin. It was borrowed from Old French "signifiance," itself formed from "signifier" ("to signify") and the suffix "-ance," which turns a verb into a noun of action or quality. English speakers used it from the late 1300s, and Chaucer and other Middle English writers employed it for the sense of a sign or the message that a sign conveys. The spelling with "-aunce" came from Anglo-Norman and Middle English scribes who wrote French-style endings in a variety of ways, so "significaunce," "significance," and related forms competed for a time. The modern spelling "significance" won out by the 1600s, and the older form dropped from use. It survives today mainly in historical texts and in studies of Middle English.