-cy

1) a suffix used to form abstract nouns from adjectives with stems in -t, -te, -tic, and esp. -nt (democracy; accuracy; expediency; stagnancy; lunacy), and sometimes used to form action nouns (vacancy; occupancy)

2) a suffix of nouns denoting rank or office, sometimes attached to the stem of a word rather than to the word itself:

captaincy; magistracy[/ex]

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Etymology: repr. F -cie, -tie, L -cia, -tia, Gk -kia, -keia, -tia, -teia; in most cases to be analyzed as consonant + -y III, the consonant making the whole or the last member of the preceding morpheme