The building blocks of English

Affixes

-ant

Also ‑ent.

Forming adjectives and nouns.

French ‑ant or ‑ent, taken from Latin present participial forms.

Such adjectives and nouns often parallel words in ‑ance or ‑ence (see ‑ance), and similar confusion accompanies their spelling. Adjectives in these endings include arrogant, convenient, different, obedient, permanent, portent, reminiscent, and resident. Nouns often denote a person or thing acting in some capacity: agent, applicant, contestant, deodorant, opponent, propellant, superintendent, tenant. See also ‑esce (for ‑escent), ‑fic, ‑facient, ‑ment, and ‑ulent.