WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Suf"fer*ance
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. suffrance, OF. sufrance, soufrance, F. souffrance, L. sufferentia, from sufferens, -entis, p.pr. of sufferre. See Suffer.]
Definition : 1. The state of suffering; the bearing of pain; endurance. He must not only die the death, But thy unkindness shall his death draw out To lingering sufferance. Shak.

2. Pain endured; misery; suffering; distress. The seeming sufferances that you had borne. Shak.

3. Loss; damage; injury. [Obs.] A grievous . . . sufferance on most part of their fleet. Shak.

4. Submission under difficult or oppressive circumstances; patience; moderation. Chaucer. But hasty heat tempering with sufferance wise. Spenser.

5. Negative consent by not forbidding or hindering; toleration; permission; allowance; leave. Shak. In their beginning they are weak and wan, But soon, through sufferance, grow to fearful end. Spenser. Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by special leave and favor, they erected to themselves oratories. Hooker.

6. A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods. [Eng.] Estate of sufferance (Law), the holding by a tenant who came in by a lawful title, but remains, after his right has expired, without positive leave of the owner. Blackstone. -- On sufferance, by mere toleration; as, to remain in a house on sufferance.

Syn. -- Endurance; pain; misery; inconvenience; patience; moderation; toleration; permission.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913