[1850–55; divulge + -ence]This word is first recorded in the period 1850–55. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: boneyard, clear-cut, ethylene, headhunting, heavyweight-ence is a suffix used to form nouns either from adjectives in -ent or from verbs. Other words that use the affix -ence include: acquiescence, coherence, convergence, dependence, sequence