English
suffer
Suffer comes from Middle English suffren, from Anglo-Norman sofrir, from Latin sufferō ‘to bear, suffer’ (sub- + ferō).
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferō‘to hold up, bear, suffer’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sofrir
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffren
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611suffer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to carry’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferō‘to hold up, bear, suffer’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sofrir
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffren
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611suffer
Earliest quotation: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “If you may pleaſe to thinke I loue the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, burden, bearing, barrel, prefer, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, ferret, furtive, bahar, bier, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, insufferable, proffer, 114 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, indifferently, 92 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
differently, differentiation, indifferent, infertility, deference, infertile, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 69 more
through Latin ferō ‘to carry’
different, difference, relative, translation, extraordinary, reference, transfer, relation, offer, relate, frustration, translate, strangely, referendum, fertility, extravagant, referee, differ, fertile, frustrate, elated, infra, extraneous, ablation, fertilization, confer, elation, strangeness, defer, infer, collation, dilate, collate, ablative, fertilize, oblate, estrange, efferent, 79 more
Today it means
verb To undergo hardship.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / suffer