Advertisement

Origin and history of suffering

suffering(n.)

mid-14c., "the patient enduring of pain, inconvenience, loss, etc.;" late 14c.; "undergoing of punishment, affliction, etc; verbal noun from suffer (v.). The meaning "a painful condition, pain felt" is from late 14c. Compare sufferance, also suffraite (mid-15c.) "want, lack, hardship, privation," from Old French sofraite.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to suffering

suffer(v.)

mid-13c., sufferen, "allow to occur or continue, refrain from hindering, fail to prevent or suppress," also "be made to undergo, endure, be subjected to" (pain, death, punishment, grief, injury, humiliation); from Anglo-French suffrir, Old French sofrir "bear, endure, resist; permit, tolerate, allow" (Modern French souffrir), from Vulgar Latin *sufferire, variant of Latin sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure, carry or put under." This is a compound of sub "up, under" (see sub-) + ferre "to carry, bear," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."

It replaced Old English þolian, þrowian. Its use and sense development in English are entwined with the story of Christ's Passion and martyrs' tales. The meaning "submit meekly to" is from early 14c. The intransitive meaning "undergo or submit to stress, affliction, pain, death" is from early 14c.; especially "undergo without succumbing, endure bravely or unflinchingly" (mid-14c.).

The general meaning "undergo, be subject to, be affected by, experience; be acted on by an agent" is from late 14c. Related: Suffered; sufferer; suffering. Suffering ______! as an exclamation is attested from 1859; perhaps influenced by phrases in Puritan literature, such as suffering saint.

For ye suffre foles gladly because that ye youreselves are wyse. [II Corinthians vi in Tyndale, 1526]
Who can suffre hath his desire. [from Peter Idley's Instructions to His Son]
sufferance(n.)

c. 1300, sufferaunce, "enduring of hardship, affliction, etc.," also "allowance of wrongdoing, consent by not forbidding," from Old French suffrance and directly from Late Latin sufferentia, from sufferens, present participle of sufferre "to bear, undergo, endure" (see suffer). Related: Sufferant (adj.) "tolerant, patient" (c. 1300, now obsolete), also as a noun.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    agony
    late 14c., "mental suffering" (especially that of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane), from Old French agonie, agoine "anguish, terror, death agony" (14c.), and directly from Late Latin agonia, from Greek agōnia "a struggle for victory" (in wrestling, etc.), in a general sense "e
    hurt
    c. 1200, "to injure, wound" (the body, feelings, reputation, etc.), also "to stumble (into), bump into; charge against, rush, crash into; knock (things) together," from Old French hurter "to ram, strike, collide with" (Modern French heurter), a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps f
    distress
    late 13c., "circumstance that causes anxiety or hardship," from Old French destresse (Modern French détresse), from Vulgar Latin *districtia "restraint, affliction, narrowness, distress," from Latin districtus, past participle of distringere "draw apart, hinder," also, in Medieva
    apathy
    c. 1600, "freedom from suffering, passionless existence," from French apathie (16c.), from Latin apathia, from Greek apatheia..."freedom from suffering, impassibility, want of sensation," from apathēs "without feeling, without suffering or having suffered...," from a- "without" (see a- (3)) + pathos "emotion, feeling, suffering" (from PIE root *kwent(h)- "to suffer")....
    compassion
    "feeling of sorrow or deep tenderness for one who is suffering or experiencing misfortune," mid-14c., compassioun, literally..."a suffering with another," from Old French compassion "sympathy, pity" (12c.), from Late Latin compassionem (nominative...Sometimes in Middle English it meant a literal sharing of affliction or suffering with another....
    patience
    c. 1200, pacience, "quality of being willing to bear adversities, calm endurance of misfortune, suffering, etc.," from Old...French pacience "patience; sufferance, permission" (12c.) and directly from Latin patientia "the quality of suffering or...enduring; submission," also "indulgence, leniency; humility; submissiveness; submission to lust;" literally "quality of suffering...It is an abstract noun formed from the adjective patientem (nominative patiens) "bearing, supporting; suffering, enduring...
    torment
    c. 1300, "the inflicting of torture," also "state of great suffering, pain, distress," from Old French torment "torture,...pain, anguish, suffering distress" (11c., Modern French tourment), from Latin tormentum "twisted cord, sling; clothes-press...
    enjoy
    late 14c., "rejoice, be glad" (intransitive), from stem of Old French enjoir "to give joy, rejoice, take delight in," from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + joir "enjoy," from Latin gaudere "rejoice" (see joy); Sense of "have the use or benefit of" first recorded early 15c. (replacing O
    other
    Old English oþer "second, the second of two; additional, further" (adj.), also as a pronoun, "one of the two; a different person or thing from the one in view," from Proto-Germanic *anthera- (source also of Old Saxon athar, Old Frisian other, Old Norse annarr, Middle Dutch and Du
    throe
    c. 1200, throwe "pain, pang of childbirth, agony of death," of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English þrawan "twist, turn, writhe" (see throw (v.)), or altered from Old English þrea (genitive þrawe) "affliction, pang, evil; threat, persecution" (related to þrowian "to suffer

    Share suffering

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near suffering
    Advertisement