Etymologically
Log in

tolerant

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 07:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈtɒləɹənt/[1]
  • US: /ˈtɑːləɹənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tolérant,[2][3][4][5][6] the present participle of tolérer (“to tolerate”),[2][3][5] and partly directly from Latin tolerāns, present participle of tolerō (“to bear, endure”).[7][8][9] The French adjective dates from the 16th century.[2][7] The American Heritage Dictionary refers the Latin verb to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *telə-.[10] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English note that intolerant is recorded earlier.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster dates the sense "showing understanding or leniency towards views and conduct different from one's own" to 1776.[9] The OED's first record is the noun, one who tolerates opinions and practices other than his own, in 1780, and the adjective in this sense in 1784, in J. White's Bampton Lecture;[2] Etymonline also dates the adjective to 1784 and the noun to 1780.[7]

Semantic evolution

The word began in the language of religious and political toleration, for a person or attitude free from bigotry;[7][2] Etymonline notes that toleratorist, tolerantist and toleratist were also used for an advocate of toleration, the first from the 1650s.[7] From 1864, in Newman's Apologia, it was used of things able to bear or sustain something.[2] In 1879 it entered medicine for a body able to endure a drug or an irritant without harm.[2][7] From 1898, first in American forestry, it was used of trees able to grow in shade and then of organisms withstanding any environmental condition.[2] Later scientific senses are tolerance to infection (1904) and immunological tolerance (1951).[2]

Timeline

  • 1776 – showing understanding or leniency towards others' views (Merriam-Webster).[9]
  • 1780 – noun, one who tolerates differing opinions or practices.[2][7]
  • 1784 – inclined to tolerate; favouring toleration.[2][7]
  • 1864 – of a thing, able to bear or sustain something.[2]
  • 1879 – in medicine, able to endure a drug or irritant.[2][7]
  • 1898 – in forestry, able to grow in shade; later of any organism withstanding a condition.[2]
  • 1951 – in immunology, showing immunological tolerance.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Willing to accept beliefs, opinions or behaviour that differ from one's own; forbearing or broad-minded: The old teacher was tolerant of noisy pupils.[11][9][2]
  2. Able to withstand harsh conditions, such as extremes of heat or cold, or (of a plant) shade: a drought-tolerant shrub.[11][2]
  3. In medicine, showing tolerance of a drug, so that its effect is reduced.[11][2]

Noun

  1. (rare) A person who tolerates opinions or practices different from his or her own.[2][7]

Word family

  • tolerantly

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins