Sufferance

Definitions

1. Endurance, especially patiently, of pain or adversity.
   archaic, countable, uncountable
2. Acquiescence or tacit compliance with some circumstance, behavior, or instruction.
   countable, uncountable
3. Suffering; pain, misery.
   archaic, countable, uncountable
4. Loss; damage; injury.
   countable, obsolete, uncountable
5. A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods.
   British, countable, historical, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“At length when as he ſaw her haſtie heat / Abate, and panting breath begin⟳ to fayle, / He through long ſufferãce growing now more great, / Roſe in his strength, and gan her freſh aſſayle, [...]”

“I indulged in this meditation for a moment, and then again addressed the mourner, who stood leaning against the bed with that expression of resigned despair, of complete⟳ misery, and a patient sufferance of it, which is far more touching than any of the insane ravings or wild gesticulation of untamed sorrow.”

“In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for the select⟳ circle—a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening for a pipe and a cheerful glass. [...] Strangers might enter⟳ the room, but they were made to feel⟳ that they were there on sufferance; they were received with distance and suspicion.”

“[M]oſt wretched man, / That to affections does the bridle lend⟳; / In their beginning they are weake and wan, / But ſoone through ſuff'rance growe to fearefull end⟳; [...]”

“Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by special leave⟳ and favour, they erected to themselves oratories.”

“When his talk⟳ trespasses beyond sufferance, I chastise him.”

“One of the benefits that Epic touts is its interoperability […] there's a large ecosystem of aftermarket add-ons that work⟳ with Epic. But Epic is a product, not a protocol, so its much-touted interop exists entirely on its terms, and at its sufferance. If Epic chooses, a doctor using its products can send⟳ files to a doctor using a rival product. But Epic can also veto that activity.”

“The sufferances which simply touch⟳ us in minde, doe much lesse afflict me, then most men [...].”

“Fortune, do diuorce / It from the bearer, 'tis a ſufferance, panging / As ſoule and bodies ſeuering.”

“[T]he streak / Of sufferance yet upon his forehead lay⟳, / Where the blue veins look'd shadowy, shrunk, and weak; [...]”

“The deſperate Tempeſt has ſo bang'd the Turke, / That their deſignement halts; Another ſhippe of Venice hath ſeene / A greeuous wracke and ſufferance / On moſt part of the Fleete.”

CEFR level