Forbear

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /fɔːˈbɛə/

Definitions

1. To exercise restraint by not engaging in an action and demonstrating patience when confronted with adversity or temptation
2. To show self-discipline by holding back from certain actions and maintaining calmness in difficult circumstances or provocations
3. To refrain from taking action despite feeling the urge to do so and to exhibit tolerance in challenging or enticing situations

Etymology: The verb "forbear" is a prefixed form of "bear," and its surprising history is that the "bear" in it has nothing to do with the animal. Old English "forberan" carried a wide range of senses: to abstain from, to refrain, to endure, to tolerate, even to do without. The modern sense of patient self-restraint grew out of the older idea of simply putting up with something, so the calm of "forbearing" a provocation is essentially a refinement of enduring it. The prefix "for-" here works as a sense of "away" or "against" rather than the everyday "for." Its Germanic root was "fra-," which appears in Old Frisian "forbera," meaning "to forfeit," and in Gothic "frabairan," meaning "to endure." The verb's ancestry runs back to a Proto-Germanic word that combined "hold back" with "endure," which explains why the two meanings have always traveled together.

Synonyms: refrain, abstain, desist, hold back, withhold

Antonyms: indulge, yield, surrender, succumb, capitulate