Thol

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To put up with hardship or suffering patiently, bearing it without giving way ; a wooden or metal peg fixed to a boat's gunwale that holds an oar in place
2. To endure or tolerate something painful or difficult, especially with quiet resignation ; a pin projecting from the side of a rowing boat that keeps the oar steady
3. To suffer and bear trouble without complaint ; an upright pin set along the edge of a small boat to serve as a fulcrum for an oar

Etymology: Old English "þolian" meant "to suffer, endure, wait for," and it is the source of the modern verb "thole," which survived in Scots and northern English dialect long after the standard language let it drop. Its roots go back to Germanic "*þulōjan," and the verb has cognates in Old Saxon, Old High German and Gothic, all carrying the same sense of enduring something unpleasant. The most memorable thing about "thole" is how well it kept its original meaning. Where many Old English verbs of suffering shifted toward other senses, this one stayed close to plain endurance, which is why it still works as a precise word for putting up with something hard without complaint. In Scots, "to thole" is also used of tolerating a person or a situation one would rather avoid, and Scots literature from Burns onward preserved it for readers far from the north.