Suffrance

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of enduring something unpleasant or difficult without yielding or giving up
2. the capacity to tolerate pain or discomfort while remaining firm in one's stance
3. a form of passive endurance that implies acceptance while resisting overt reactions

Etymology: "Suffrance" is simply an alternative spelling of "sufferance," and its history runs through a surprising shift in meaning. The word came into Middle English as "sufferaunce" from Anglo-Norman "suffraunce," which traces back to Late Latin "sufferentia," a noun built on the verb "sufferre," to suffer. Its literal sense was endurance or patient bearing of hardship, which is the root of the meaning you have here. Over time the word drifted from endurance toward permission. Someone who was tolerated, rather than welcomed, was said to be there "on sufferance": allowed to stay only because others chose not to object. That passive sense of being permitted grudgingly became the word's most common use, while the older idea of enduring pain stayed in the background.

Synonyms: suffering, endurance, patience

Antonyms: relief, comfort