ME. -esse, in sbs. a. Fr., represents OF. -esse, -ece, = Pr. -ezza, -eza, Sp. -eza, It. -ezza:—L. -itia, appended to adjs. to form nouns of quality; examples are duress, † humblesse, largess, prowess, † richesse (now riches). These words have been imitated in the pseudo-archaic idlesse, but otherwise the suffix scarcely occurs as an Eng. formative.
