Etymologically
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souffrir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /su.fʁiʁ/[1]

Forms

souffrir[1] Old French sofrir (about 1050), suffrir (1080), souffrir (about 1112); beside them soferre (about 1150), from Latin sufferre directly, lasting into the 16th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sofrir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sufferīre, an alteration by change of conjugation of classical sufferō (“to bear, endure”), from sub- (“under”) and ferō (“to carry”).[5][4][6][2][1][7] “Ferō” goes back, like Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō), to the Indo-European root “*bʰer-” “to carry”.[4]

Cognate with Italian soffrire, Catalan sofrir, Spanish sufrir, Portuguese sofrer and Romanian suferi.[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) it means to bear, endure something painful; the Chanson de Roland says ceste bataille est mult fort a sufrir.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense, “to bear”, covered both sustaining a fight (souffrir un assaut, still in the Académie's dictionary of 1694) and enduring pain.[4] About 1135 it meant “to allow, permit” (souffrir que, about 1170), whence ne pas pouvoir souffrir quelqu'un “to be unable to stand someone” (1677) and le papier souffre tout (1548).[5][4] Christ's suffering appears in Philippe de Thaon (1121–34), and souffrir mort et passion in 1283.[5] The intransitive sense, “to feel pain”, is first found about 1480, souffrir de an illness dates from 1498–1515, and of things, “to be damaged”, from La Fontaine (1668).[5] Until the 17th century souffrir competed with douloir, which disappeared in the middle of that century.[5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Sofrir “to endure”, Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • 1121–34 – Of Christ's martyrdom, Philippe de Thaon.[5]
  • c. 1135 – “To allow”.[5]
  • 12th century – Souffrance, souffrant.[6]
  • c. 1480 – Intransitive “to suffer pain”.[5]
  • 1646 – Souffre-douleur.[6]
  • 1677 – Ne pas pouvoir souffrir quelqu'un.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To suffer, be in pain: il souffre beaucoup, souffrir de la tête.[10][1]
  2. Souffrir de: to suffer from (an illness, a lack); of things, to be damaged by: les vignes ont souffert du gel.[5][10]
  3. (literary) To endure, bear: souffrir le martyre.[11][1]
  4. Ne pas pouvoir souffrir: to be unable to stand: je ne peux pas le souffrir.[11][4]
  5. (literary) To allow, tolerate: souffrez que je vous dise; to admit: cela ne souffre aucun retard.[11][5]

Word family

  • souffrance
  • souffrant
  • souffre-douleur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 399b
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert