sufferance

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈsʌfərəns/ UK /ˈsʌfərəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
tolerance or tacit permission rather than express consent

He remained in the house only on the landlord's sufferance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · tolerance or tacit... tolerance forbearance permission endurance acquiescence patience

Opposites

intolerance prohibition refusal

Word family

Related forms suffer sufferable suffering

Etymology

From Middle English suffraunce, from Old French sufrance, from Late Latin sufferentia ('endurance'), from Latin sufferre ('to bear, undergo'), from sub- ('under') + ferre ('to bear').

sub Latin ferre Middle English *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# sufferance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsʌfərəns/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsʌfərəns/

## Meanings
1. tolerance or tacit permission rather than express consent

## Examples
- He remained in the house only on the landlord's sufferance.

## Synonyms
- tolerance
- forbearance
- permission
- endurance
- acquiescence
- patience

## Antonyms
- intolerance
- prohibition
- refusal

## Related Forms
- suffer
- sufferable
- suffering

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sub
- Root: ferre
- Root: *bʰer-

## Etymology
From Middle English suffraunce, from Old French sufrance, from Late Latin sufferentia ('endurance'), from Latin sufferre ('to bear, undergo'), from sub- ('under') + ferre ('to bear').

## AI Etymology
Sufferance comes from Middle English suffraunce, from Old French sufrance, from Late Latin sufferentia ('endurance'), from Latin sufferre ('to bear, undergo'), from sub- ('under') + ferre ('to bear'). The historical chain includes Latin sub, Latin ferre, and Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-. The quoted older senses, "endurance", "to bear, undergo", "under", and "to bear", supply the semantic anchors for sufferance. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word sufferance carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "tolerance or tacit permission rather than express consent". Related English forms include suffer, sufferable, and suffering. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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