suffer English · revision 5074

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a. 1225|origins=la sufferre}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsʌf.ə/, US /ˈsʌf.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|suffren]], [[bor|xno|suffrir]] and Old French sofrir,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Vulgar Latin *sufferīre, from Latin [[m|la|sufferre|t=to bear, undergo, endure]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from sub- “under” and ferre “to carry”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*bʰer-|alt=*bher-|t=to carry]].^(Etymonline) It replaced Old English þolian and þrowian.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[sufferance]] and [[bear]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To undergo or endure pain, death or punishment: before 1225 in the OED, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its use and development in English were tied to the story of Christ's Passion and the tales of martyrs.^(Etymonline) To allow or tolerate is from about 1300 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) as in the biblical ''suffer fools gladly''.^(Cresswell 2021) The intransitive sense, to undergo pain or punishment, is from before 1300,^(OED 1989) and to suffer from a disease from 1800.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1225 – to endure pain.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to allow.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * a. 1300 – intransitive, to feel pain.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1800 – to suffer from a disease.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To feel pain or distress.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To have an illness: ''suffers from asthma''.^(Collins 2023)

+ # To experience something unpleasant: ''suffer a defeat''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To become worse in quality.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To allow or [[tolerate]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sufferer]]

+ * [[sufferingly]]

+ * [[sufferable]]

+ * [[sufferableness]]

+ * [[sufferably]]

+ * [[outsuffer]]

+ * [[insufferable]]

+ * [[sufferance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[suffering]]

+ * [[bear]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}