patience

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English pacience, borrowed from Old French patience, pacience,^[2][3][4] from Latin patientia (“the quality of suffering or enduring; submission”), from patiens, the present participle of patī (“to suffer”).^[5][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The calm endurance of pain or trouble: before 1225 in the OED, about 1200 in Etymonline.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Forbearance under provocation is from 1377, and calm waiting for the outcome of events from about 1375.^[7] Constancy in effort is from 1517.^[7] Word Origins notes that patience has been called a virtue since the 14th century.^[6] The card game for one player is from the early 19th century; its earlier name, still used in the US, is solitaire.^[6] A rare verb, to have patience, is from the late 16th century.^[4] In Scots, ma patience! was a mild oath.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1225 – calm endurance.^[7]
• c. 1375 – calm waiting.^[7]
• 1377 – forbearance.^[7]
• 1517 – perseverance.^[7]
• early 19th century – the card game.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The ability to accept delay, trouble or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
2. Perseverance; steady effort.
3. (chiefly British) A card game for one player; solitaire.

Related words

• passion
• passionate
• passive
• passivity
• patient
• compatible
• impatient

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)