tolerantia

Forms

tolerantia f (genitive tolerantiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tolerāns (“enduring”) + -ia,^[2][1][3] formed on the present participle of tolerō (“to support, endure”).^[4][5] De Vaan lists that verb among the derivatives of tollō (“to lift, raise”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tl-n(e)-h₂- (“to carry”); he reports Nussbaum's explanation of the verb as a present in ⟨-s-⟩ built to the root *telh₂-.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[7] whose Paradoxa Stoicorum speak of tolerantia rerum humanarum, the ability to bear the vicissitudes of human life.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

It means the capacity to bear something, usually with a genitive of what is borne:^[2][5] Quintilian has tolerantia doloris, endurance of pain, and tolerantia malorum, endurance of hardships.^[4][5] Seneca uses it without a genitive for patience,^[5][9] and Tacitus, in the Agricola, of the forbearance of earlier governors.^[4][5] Lewis and Short call the word very rare.^[4]

The Vulgate has it in the second letter to the Corinthians,^[4] and Ecclesiastical Latin used it for toleration as well as endurance.^[10] British medieval writers used it for undertaking a task, as in Bede, and for enduring pain or hardship.^[11] German Toleranz continues it.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bearing the vicissitudes of human life.^[4][7]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it absolutely for patience.^[5][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of enduring pain.^[4][7]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it in the Agricola.^[4][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in 2 Corinthians.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ability to bear pain or adversity, endurance, fortitude.^[2][4]
2. Patience, forbearance.^[5][9]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Toleration, tolerance.^[10]
4. (Medieval Latin) The undertaking of a task.^[11]

Related words

• tolerō
• tolerāns
• intolerantia
• patientia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press