sufferance

English

Alternative forms

sufferaunce (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman suffraunce, from Late Latin sufferentia.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsʌf(ə)ɹəns/

Noun

sufferance (countable and uncountable, plural sufferances)

(archaic) Endurance, especially patiently, of pain or adversity.
- Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
  but hasty heat tempering with sufferance wise
- 1826, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, The Last Man, chapter 4:
  I indulged in this meditation for a moment, and then again addressed the mourner, who stood leaning against the bed with that expression of resigned despair, of complete misery, and a patient sufferance of it, which is far more touching than any of the insane ravings or wild gesticulation of untamed sorrow.
Acquiescence or tacit compliance with some circumstance, behavior, or instruction.
- Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599)
  In their beginning they are weak and wan, / But soon, through sufferance, grow to fearful end.
- Richard Hooker (1554-1600)
  Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by special leave and favour, they erected to themselves oratories.
- 1910, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Lady Good-for-Nothing, chapter 20:
  When his talk trespasses beyond sufferance, I chastise him.
(archaic) Suffering; pain, misery.
- 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, chapter 37, in The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
  The sufferances which simply touch us in minde, doe much lesse afflict me, then most men […].
- 1612, William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII, act 2, scene 3:
  'Tis a sufferance panging / As soul and body's severing.
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.147:
  the streak / Of sufferance yet upon his forehead lay, / Where the blue veins looked shadowy, shrunk, and weak […].
(obsolete) Loss; damage; injury.
- William Shakespeare (c. 1564–1616)
  a grievous […] sufferance on most part of their fleet
(Britain, historical) A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods.

Related terms

on sufferance

Synonyms

acquiesce

References

The noun sufferance is listed in following dictionaries:

sufferance in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
sufferance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
“sufferance” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
“ “sufferance” in Microsoft's Encarta World English Dictionary, North American Edition (2007)
“sufferance” in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
“sufferance” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
“sufferance” in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
“sufferance” in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2007)
“sufferance” at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006).

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