Webster's 1828 Dictionary
DURANCE
n.[L.] 1. Imprisonment; restraint of the person; custody of the jailer.
2. Continuance; duration. [See Endurance. ]
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
DURANCE
Dur "ance, n. Etym: [OF. durance duration, fr. L. durans, -antis, p.pr. durare to endure, last. See Dure, and cf. Durant. ]
1. Continuance; duration. See Endurance. [Archaic ] Of how short durance was this new-made state! Dryden.
2. Imprisonment; restraint of the person; custody by a jailer; duress. Shak. "Durance vile. " Burns. In durance, exile, Bedlam or the mint. Pope.
3. (a ) A stout cloth stuff, formerly made in imitation of buff leather and used for garments; a sort of tammy or everlasting. Where didst thou buy this buff let me not live but I will give thee a good suit of durance. J. Webster.
(b ) In modern manufacture, a worsted of one color used for window blinds and similar purposes.
New American Oxford Dictionary
durance
dur ance |ˈd (y )o͝orəns ˈdjurəns | ▶noun archaic imprisonment or confinement. ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘continuance ’): from Old French, from durer ‘to last, ’ from Latin durare. The sense ‘imprisonment ’ is first recorded in the early 16th cent.
Oxford Dictionary
durance
dur |ance |ˈdjʊər (ə )ns | ▶noun [ mass noun ] archaic imprisonment or confinement. ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘continuance ’): from Old French, from durer ‘to last ’, from Latin durare. The sense ‘imprisonment ’ is first recorded in the early 16th cent.
The Wordsmith Dictionary