The state or quality of being out of place or improperly positioned; lack of fitness or appropriateness.
A rare, archaic formation from displace + -ency (noun suffix meaning condition or state). The -ency suffix was productive in Middle English for creating nouns from verbs and adjectives.
This word is so archaic it barely survives in modern English, but its structure reveals how productive the -ency suffix once was—we still use it in words like 'emergency' and 'tendency' where it captures a state or condition.
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