endurance English · revision 39925

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation, borrowing|attested=a1513, R. Fabyan, New Cronycles|origins=la dūrus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ɪnˈdjʊəɹəns/, /ɪnˈdjɔːɹəns/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ɪnˈdʊɹəns/, /ɪnˈdɝəns/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|en|endure|-ance]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016) or, according to Barnhart, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English, [[bor|frm|endurance]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) it was formerly also spelt with an initial i.^(ODE 2010)^(SOED 2002) The verb is [[m|enm|enduren]], from [[fro|endurer|t=to make hard; to bear, tolerate]] (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) from [[la|indūrō|t=to make hard]], in Late Latin "to harden (the heart)",^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024) formed on [[m|la|dūrus|t=hard]].^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) Etymonline and the AHD trace the adjective to [[ine-pro|*deru-|t=to be firm, solid]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) In Anglo-Norman, the verb ''endurer'' is recorded from 1121–25, with senses including to bear, to hold out and to last.^(AND)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Continued existence in time, the power of lasting: before 1513, in Robert Fabyan's ''New Cronycles of Englande and Fraunce''.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the word to 1494, and Etymonline, Dictionary.com and the Shorter Oxford to the late 15th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense now most common, the bearing of pain or hardship and the power to do so, appears in the 17th century: 1600 in the OED's dating,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) the 1660s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) gave first "continuance, lastingness" and then "patience; the act of supporting; sufferance".^(Johnson 1755) The concrete sense, a hardship that has to be endured, is recorded from about 1555,^(OED 2026) and Richard Knolles used the word in 1610 for captivity, a sense taken from ''durance''.^(OED 2026) Of things, the power of holding out under strain, as of steel, dates from 1890,^(OED 2026) and the capacity of a vehicle or vessel to keep operating falls in the same period.^(HTOED)^(MWU 2024) The word is often used before another noun, as in ''endurance test''.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1494 – first recorded, in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a1513 – continued existence in time; the power of lasting.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1555 – a hardship endured.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1600 – the bearing of pain or hardship; patience.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1610 – captivity (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1890 – of things, the capacity to withstand strain.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The ability to keep going through [[pain]], [[hardship]] or long effort: ''Marathon runners need great endurance.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The act or fact of bearing something unpleasant; [[patience]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The ability of a thing to last, or of a machine or [[vehicle]] to keep operating; [[duration]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) Something endured; a hardship.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[endure]]

+ * [[durable]]

+ * [[duration]]

+ * [[durance]]

+ * [[obdurate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}