from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. Patient endurance, especially of pain or distress.
- n. Suffering; misery.
- n. Sanction or permission implied or given by failure to prohibit; tacit consent; tolerance.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. Endurance, especially patiently, of pain or adversity.
- n. Acquiescence or tacit compliance with some circumstance, behavior, or instruction.
- n. Suffering; pain, misery.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. The state of suffering; the bearing of pain; endurance.
- n. Pain endured; misery; suffering; distress.
- n. Loss; damage; injury.
- n. Submission under difficult or oppressive circumstances; patience; moderation.
- n. Negative consent by not forbidding or hindering; toleration; permission; allowance; leave.
- n. A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The state of suffering; the bearing of pain or other evil; endurance; suffering; misery.
- n. Damage; loss; injury.
- n. Submission under difficult or oppressive circumstances; patient endurance; patience.
- n. Consent by not forbidding or hindering; toleration; allowance; permission; leave.
- n. In customs, a permission granted for the shipment of certain goods.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. patient endurance especially of pain or distress
- n. a disposition to tolerate or accept people or situations
Middle English suffrance, from Old French sufrance, from Latin sufferentia, from sufferēns, sufferent-, present participle of sufferre, to suffer; see suffer.(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
From Anglo-Norman suffraunce, from Late Latin sufferentia. (Wiktionary)