Part 950

Lev. xix. 17.

I suffer them to enter and possess.

Milton.

Syn. -- To permit; bear; endure; support; sustain; allow; admit; tolerate. See Permit.

Suf"fer, v. i. 1. To feel or undergo pain of body or mind; to bear what is inconvenient; as, we suffer from pain, sickness, or sorrow; we suffer with anxiety.

O well for him whose will is strong! He suffers, but he will not suffer long.

Tennyson.

2. To undergo punishment; specifically, to undergo the penalty of death.

The father was first condemned to suffer upon a day appointed, and the son afterwards the day following.

Clarendon.

3. To be injured; to sustain loss or damage.

Public business suffers by private infirmities.

Sir W. Temple.

Suf"fer*a*ble (?), a. [Cf. F. souffrable.] 1. Able to suffer or endure; patient. [Obs.] "Ye must be sufferable." Chaucer.

2. That may be suffered, tolerated, or permitted; allowable; tolerable.

-- Suf"fer*a*ble*ness, n. -- Suf"fer*a*bly, adv.

Suf"fer*ance (?), n. [OE. suffrance, OF. sufrance, soufrance, F. souffrance, L. sufferentia, from sufferens, - entis, p. pr. of sufferre. See Suffer.] 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.