The act of stopping something, ending it, or ceasing to do it; the state of being discontinued.
From discontinue + -ance (Latin -entia forming abstract nouns). This suffix creates nouns describing states or conditions resulting from a verb. The meaning evolved from 'breaking continuity' to 'the act of stopping.'
In legal documents, 'discontinuance' is a formal term meaning you're dropping a lawsuit—it's more graceful than 'we're stopping this' and suggests a planned halt rather than a failure or abandonment.
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