tolero

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɔ.ɫɛ.roː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔː.le.ro]^[1]

Forms

tolerō (present infinitive tolerāre, perfect active tolerāvī, supine tolerātum); first conjugation^[1] Priscian reports a deponent toleror.^[2]

Etymology

The OLD compares tollō “to lift” and suggests a formation like ⟨onerō⟩ and ⟨vulnerō⟩, and Wiktionary calls it uncertain, perhaps from an ⟨s⟩-stem noun ⟨*telh₂-s⟩ of Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“to bear, carry”).^[3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨tollō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *tl̥-n(e)-h₂- (“to carry”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are Livius Andronicus, perhaps “to remove”, and Terence.^[3] Köbler dates Terence 190–159 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to provide food, sustain, as in Terence; to undergo, bear, endure; to put up with, tolerate; to bear a weight, support, as in Horace; and to stand up to, withstand, as in Cicero.^[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to bear, endure, sustain, tolerate.^[6] English tolerate (1530s) is from its participle tolerātus, and it survives as French tolérer, Italian tollerare and Spanish tolerar.^[7][1]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of sustaining and enduring.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of withstanding.^[3][5]
• 1530s – English tolerate is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bear (a weight), support.^[3]
2. To sustain, feed.^[3]
3. To endure, undergo.^[3][6]
4. To put up with, tolerate.^[3]
5. To withstand.^[3]

Related words

• tollō
• tolerantia
• tolerābilis
• English tolerate

References

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