endurer

Forms

endurer^[1] Old French andurer.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin indūrō (“to harden one's body or heart”), from in- and dūrō (“to harden”), from dūrus (“hard”).^[2][4][5][6] In Classical Latin the verb meant “to make hard, become hard”; the sense “to steel oneself against something”, whence “to bear”, belongs to Imperial and Church Latin.^[4][7][5] The TLFi and the DHLF count it as a borrowing despite its early date, while Wiktionary treats it as inherited, and Meyer-Lübke lists it among the Romance outcomes of the Latin verb.^[2][4][1][8] The later learned indurer is a doublet.^[1]

Cognate with Italian indurare, Old Occitan endurar and Spanish endurar.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has Tantes dolurs ad pur tei andurede[s] “so many sorrows has she suffered for you”, in the sense “to bear, suffer”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Taken first in the Imperial Latin sense “to bear, suffer”, the verb came to mean “to tolerate something unpleasant” about 1260, and used absolutely “to suffer patiently”, now dated.^[4][5] In Quebec French endurer quelqu'un “to put up with someone” is common.^[4] In the 19th century sailors used it intransitively for easing the effort on the oars (1870).^[4][9]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Andurede appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2][4]
• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland has endurer et granz chauz et granz freiz “to endure great heat and great cold”.^[9]
• Late 12th century – The adjective endurant is formed.^[4]
• c. 1260 – Rutebeuf uses it for “to tolerate”.^[5][4]
• 14th century – Endurance is derived from it.^[7]
• 1870 – It is recorded as a rowing term.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To endure, bear with patience something hard or painful: endurer la faim.^[10][2]
2. To tolerate, put up with something unpleasant.^[10][5]
3. (Quebec) To put up with a person.^[4]
4. (nautical) To ease the effort on the oars.^[9][4]

Word family

• endurance

Related words

• endurant
• dur
• durer
• indurer
• Latin indūrō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 188b
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert