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suffero

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word suffero

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*bʰer-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fero
Latin circumfero
Latin introfero
Latin perfero
Latin transfero
English transfer
Latin antefero
Latin suffero
Latin ferculum
Latin vociferor

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsʊf.fɛ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsuf.fe.ro][1]

Forms

sufferō (present infinitive sufferre, perfect active sustulī, supine sublātum); third conjugation, suppletive[1] It is also spelled subf-.[2][3] Its perfect sustulī and supine sublātum also serve as those of tollō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin sub- + ferō (“to carry, bear”).[2][1][4] De Vaan traces ferō to Proto-Italic *fere/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-e/o- (“to carry”), with Umbrian fertu (“to carry, bring”) among its Italic relatives.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

All its first quotations are in Plautus: a character offers his back in return for an injury, and another can scarcely bear his own panting.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to put or carry under, to offer or place at a person's disposal: Varro has a mother who cannot supply milk.[3][2] In Plautus it seems also to mean to take a case before the praetor.[2] Mostly it is to submit to and endure punishment or hardship, and in negative contexts to hold out under it.[2] In legal Latin it is to tender the assessed value of a suit, and Arnobius uses it, rarely, of holding up or supporting.[3] Church Latin glosses it to suffer, bear.[6] English suffer, from the mid-13th century, came through Anglo-French suffrir and Old French sofrir from a Vulgar Latin variant of this verb.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of offering one's back and of enduring.[2][7]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of supplying milk.[3][7]
  • mid-13th century – English suffer via Anglo-French and Old French.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To put or carry under; to offer, place at someone's disposal.[2][3][1]
  2. To submit to, endure, suffer; to hold out under.[2][1][6]

Word family

  • sufferentia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Suffero.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/suffero. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·