-tənsē, -si noun
or ex·pect·ance -n(t)s
( plural expectancies or expectances )
Etymology: Medieval Latin expectantia, exspectantia, from Latin expectant-, exspectant-, expectans, exspectans + -ia -y
1. archaic
a. : the act of waiting
b. : the state of waiting
2.
a. : the act or action of anticipating
the thirst did feel abatement of its edge e'en from expectance — H.F.Cary
b. : the state of anticipating
suspicion … gave way to a more submissive expectancy — George Eliot
3. : the state of being expected
a large fortune in expectancy
4.
a.
(1) : something that is expected : the object of expectation or hope
each of us had come … with his own purposes and expectancies — Esther Warner
(2) : the expected amount (as of the number of years of life) based on statistical probability — compare life expectancy
b. archaic : something that gives rise to expectations
the expectancy and rose of the fair state — Shakespeare