Etymologically
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suffice

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Pronunciation

  • /səˈfaɪs/, /səˈfaɪz/[1]
  • UK: /səˈfʌɪs/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English suffisen, also sufficen,[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French suffire (“to be sufficient, satisfy”), through its present stem suffis-.[5][6][7][8][4] The French verb comes from Latin sufficiō (“to put under, supply as a substitute, be enough”),[4][3][8] formed from sub- (“under, up to”) and faciō (“to make, do”).[5][4][7][9] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary trace faciō to Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to set, put”).[4][9] Dictionary.com takes the form sufficen as taken directly from Latin, replacing suffisen.[10] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the early 12th century, already meant to be sufficient, to satisfy and to be able.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be adequate or equal to something: about 1325, in the Song of Yesterday (obsolete by 1540).[5] The intransitive sense "to be enough for a purpose" follows about 1340, in Richard Rolle.[5] Barnhart dates the verb before 1325,[7] Etymonline to the early 14th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The transitive use, "to be enough for someone's needs", followed in the late 14th century.[4] The impersonal it suffiseth, "it is enough", appears in the Wycliffite Bible ("Schewe to us the fadir, and it suffisith to us"),[12][5] and Chaucer used the verb 83 times.[13] The subjunctive suffice it is recorded from Gower (1390),[5] and the phrase suffice it to say from the 1690s;[4] Weekley calls it one of the few surviving English subjunctives.[12][4] Johnson (1755) gave the transitive senses "to afford, supply" and "to satisfy", quoting Dryden and Milton, beside the intransitive "to be enough".[14]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – to be adequate or equal to (obsolete by 1540).[5]
  • c. 1340 – to be enough or adequate for a purpose.[5]
  • c. 1384 – impersonal, it suffices, it is enough.[5]
  • 1390 – suffice it, with an infinitive or a clause.[5]
  • 1393 – to provide enough for something.[5]
  • 1690s – suffice it to say.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be enough or adequate; to meet a need: A short email will suffice.[15][3][5][16]
  2. To be enough for someone; to satisfy the needs of: A bowl of soup sufficed him.[16][17]
  3. To be equal to a task; to be capable.[16]
  4. suffice it to say: I will say only that: Suffice it to say, the trip did not go as planned.[15][17][18]

Word family

  • sufficer

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  16. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  17. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  18. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press