Sufferance

Forms: 4 sufrance, soffra(u)nce, 4–6 suff(e)raunce, 4–7 suffrance, 5 souerans(e, soferons, -aunce, sofferaunce, 5–6 sufferans, souerance, 6 souffrance, suffrans, 7–8 sufference, 4– sufferance. [a. AF., OF. suf(f)rance, soffrance (mod.F. souffrance) = Pr. sofransa, -ensa, It. sofferenza, Sp. sufrencia, ad. late L. sufferentia, f. sufferre to SUFFER: see -ANCE. Subsequently modified in form by assimilation to SUFFER v.]

  I.  1. Patient endurance, forbearance, long-suffering. arch. (See also LONG-SUFFERANCE.)

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 29106. Þe preist … Agh to sceu þe, sinful man, þat he ta sli thing in sufferance, To stand him in stede o penance.

c. 1330.  Spec. Gy Warw., 571. Houre swete lord … bad hem ben of god suffraunce In alle manere destourbaunce.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., C. 417. Wel knew I þi cortaysye, þi quoynt soffraunce.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 1106. For our beste is al his [sc. God’s] gouernance; Lat vs thanne lyue in vertuous suffrance.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 214. God, forto preue hym and his meke suffrance, made hym blynd.

1531.  Elyot, Gov., 12. Wher vertue is in a gentleman, it is commonly mixt with more suffraunce … than … it is in a person rural.

a. 1596.  Sir T. More, III. i. 173. That awefull Iustice, Which looketh through a vaile of sufferaunce Uppon the frailtie of the multitude.

1642.  Milton, Apol. Smect., Wks. 1851, III. 252. I will not deny but that the best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance.

1680.  Otway, Orphan, I. ii. Bear it with all the suffrance of a tender Friend.

  2.  The suffering or undergoing of pain, trouble, wrong, etc. arch.

1426.  Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 7486. Lyk a myghty champyoun, Thow shalt with laurer crownyd be, By suffraunce off adversyte.

1502.  Atkynson, trans. De Imitatione, III. xx. (1893), 212. From the houre of my byrthe vnto my deth vpon the crosse, I neuer cessed of suffraunce of peynes.

1528.  More, Dyaloge, III. Wks. 219/2. Yf a man … after repenting his sin would … willyngly offer hym selfe to the sufferaunce of open shame.

1539.  Tonstall, Serm. Palm Sund. (1823), 16. His … sufferaunce of deathe for mankynde.

1614.  Jackson, Creed, III. 156. Vnder pain of eternall damnation, or sufferance of greater thirst in hell.

1794.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xxx. To glory in the quiet sufferance of ills.

1842.  G. S. Faber, Prov. Lett. (1844), II. 295. The Holy Catholic Church … has been exempt from the sufferance of persecution for these fifteen hundred years.

1856.  H. Bonar, Hymn, ‘Calm me, my God,’ v. Calm in the sufferance of wrong.

  † b.  The suffering of a penalty. Obs.

1599.  Shaks., Hen. V., II. ii. 159. God be thanked for preuention, which [I] in sufferance heartily will reioyce.

1599.  Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, 57. The Cardinalles … held this suffocation a meete sufferance for so contemning the king of fishes.

1640.  Sir E. Dering, Sp. on Relig., 18 Dec., 22. I proceed to his second sufferance, which was by the Vice-chancellour of Oxford.

  † c.  Damage, injury. Obs. rare.

1604.  Shaks., Oth., II. i. 23. A Noble ship of Venice, Hath seene a greeuous wracke and sufferance On most part of their Fleet.

1823.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1830), IV. 369. The trappings of such a machinery … by the inequalities they produced, exposed liberty to sufferance.

  † 3.  (trans. L. passio.) Passivity, receptivity. Obs.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., V. met. iv. (1868), 167. Þe passioun þat is to seyn þe suffraunce or þe wit in þe quike body.

  4.  = SUFFERING vbl. sb. 3. arch.

1422.  Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 169. In full grete Sufferaunce haue I be so many Ieris.

c. 1485.  Digby Myst., III. 864. Alle þis xall be þe soferons of my deite.

1563.  Homilies, II. For Good Friday, I. Not that the sufferaunce of thys transitory lyfe, shoulde be worthy of that glory to come.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., II. iv. 168. Thy vnkindnesse shall his death draw out To lingring sufferance. Ibid., III. i. 80. The poore Beetle that we treade vpon In corporall sufferance, finds a pang as great, As when a Giant dies.

1628.  Digby, Voy. Mediterr. (Camden), 13, note. A most resupine patience in their sufferance.

1711.  Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), II. II. 164. To see the Sufferance of an Enemy with cruel Delight may proceed from the height of Anger, Revenge, Fear, and other extended Self-Passions.

1795.  Bentham, Escheat vice Tax., 38. It can save me … from ideal hardship, but not from corporal sufferance.

1819.  Scott, Ivanhoe, xxix. Nature exhausted by sufferance.

1861.  J. A. Alexander, Gospel Christ, vii. 100. She looked back, and became a pillar of salt, perhaps without a pang of corporal sufferance.

  † b.  pl. = SUFFERING 3 b. Obs.

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. xlviii. § 8. To say he knew not what waight of sufferances his heauenly Father had measured vnto him, is somewhat hard.

1628.  Feltham, Resolves, II. lxxxii. There is a Sympathie of soules … which makes them sensible of one anothers sufferances.

1656.  S. Holland, Zara, 211. How joyous our Champion and Soto were to behold this Mansion…, let those that have been sensible of their sufferances relate.

  † 5.  Capacity to endure, endurance. Of bare sufferance, barely endurable. Obs.

1544.  Betham, Precepts War, II. lxx. L viij. Nothynge is so vnweldable, that by manlye prowes, and sufferaunce, may not be conquered and vndertroden.

1584.  R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., III. xi. 45. This melancholike humor … maketh sufferance of torments.

1604.  Edmonds, Observ. Cæsar’s Comm., 62. The two chiefest parts of a soldier, Valour and Sufferance.

1621.  Fletcher, Isl. Princ., II. i. 3. I nere saw before A Man of such a sufferance; he lies now Where I would not lay my dog, for sure ’twould kill him.

1690.  Locke, Hum. Und., II. xxviii. § 12. This is a Burden too heavy for human Sufferance.

1702.  Rowe, Tamerl., IV. i. Griefs beyond a mortal Sufferance.

1823.  J. Badcock, Dom. Amusem., 139. Give it a heat to the temperature of bare sufferance to the hand.

  II.  6. Sanction, consent or acquiescence, implied by non-intervention; permission, leave; toleration, indulgence. Now rare exc. as in d.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 747. Wit his suffrance he it lete.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 12365. Hyt was but suffraunce, Nat hys wyl, nat hys ordynaunce.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Frankl. T., 60. And therfore hath this wise worthy knyght To lyue in ese suffrance hire bihight.

1464.  Cov. Leet Bk., 323. Maruayllyng gretely not only the presumpcion of the said persones, but also of your suffrance in that partie.

1488.  MSS. Acc. Maldon (Essex) Liber B., fol. 39. The barreris, gate, and fence there stondith at the sufferance of the tovne.

c. 1550.  L. Wager, Life Marie Magd. (1904), 175. Of parentes the tender and carnall sufferance Is to yong maidens a very pestilence.

1554.  Act 1 & 2 Phil. & Mary, c. 11 § 1. Coines … of other Realmes … by the suffrance and consent of the King and Quene … be currant in paiment within this Realme.

1579.  Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Feb., 187. Nought aske I, but onely to holde my right: Submitting me to your good sufferaunce.

1625.  K. Long, trans. Barclay’s Argenis, III. iv. 158. That easinesse and too much sufferance toward your Nobility hath betrayed the chiefe strength of your Kingdome.

1768.  Blackstone, Comm., III. 87. They subsist and are admitted in England, not by any right of their own, but upon bare sufferance and toleration from the municipal laws [etc.].

1817.  Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. V. iv. 421. The Company … possessing their privileges through his sufferance, and owing obedience to his throne.

1854.  J. S. C. Abbott, Napoleon (1855), II. xiii. 221. The supplies of his troops, the advance of his reenforcements, etc., all depended upon their sufferance.

1875.  Maine, Hist. Instit., iii. 95. The temporary occupation of the common tribe-land tends to become permanent, either through the tacit sufferance or the active consent of the tribesmen.

  b.  Const. of (that which is allowed or tolerated), to with inf.

  † Sufferance of peace, a grant of peace, truce.

1338.  R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 267. In þe sufferance of pes [orig. En suffraunce de pees].

1463–4.  Rolls of Parlt., V. 506/1. The sufferaunce wherof hath caused grete ydelnes.

1534.  More, Comf. agst. Trib., III. Wks. 1212/1. Disparsing them for slaues among many sundry countreys of hys, verye farre fro their owne, without ani sufferaunce of regresse.

1547–64.  Bauldwin, Mor. Philos., 70 b. Justice exalteth the people: but sufferance to sinne maketh the people most wretched & miserable.

1611.  Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., IX. ix. (1632), 618. The too-patient sufferance of some forraine grieuances. Ibid., xxiv. 1192. Their offer and sufferance to carry with them many voluntary English souldiers.

[1706.  Philips (ed. Kersey), Sufferentia Pacis,… a Sufferance or Grant, of Peace or Truce.]

1840.  Thackeray, Shabby-genteel Story, v. Young ladies had been brought, from dislike to sufferance of a man, from sufferance to partiality.

  † c.  of God: freq. in the formula by the sufferance of God = by divine permission. Obs.

  Cf. AF. par divine soeffrance.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Parson’s T., 551. Peyne is sent by the rightwys sonde of god, and by his suffrance.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xvii. 76. It befell thurgh þe sufferaunce of Godd þat sudaynely he fell to grete mischeffe.

1439.  Charters &c. of Edinb. (1871), 64. Patrike be the souerance of God Abbot of Halyrudhouse.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, XVIII. xix. 760. Sythen hit is the sufferaunce of god that I shalle dye for the loue of soo noble a knyghte.

1477.  MS. Rawl. B. 332, lf. 42. I purpose with Goddis sufferaunce for to be here with you in my proper persone.

1528.  St. Papers Hen. VIII., IV. 497. I shall provide, by the soverance of God, that [etc.].

1540.  Act 32 Hen. VIII., c. 25 § 1. Thomas and Edwarde by the sufferaunce of God Archebishops of … Counterbury and Yorke.

1559.  Bk. Presidentes, 8. Thomas by diuine suffraunce archbyshop of Canterbury.

1655.  Fuller, Ch. Hist., I. 11. Take ye a Law, and by that Law (through Gods sufferance) rule your Kingdome of Britain.

1879.  R. K. Douglas, Confucianism, iii. 77. Kings rule by its [sc. Heaven’s] sufferance, and are deposed by its decree.

  d.  On or upon (formerly † by) sufferance: by virtue of a tacit assent but without express permission; under conditions of passive acquiescence or bare tolerance.

1562.  Cooper, Answ. Priv. Masse (1850), 135. Neither those things which some did … upon Simplicity by sufferance should be brought as testimonies what the Church … ought … to do.

1758.  Johnson, Idler, No. 21, ¶ 11. The ignominy of living by sufferance.

1846.  Lytton, Lucretia, 36. It is humiliating to me to know that I woo clandestinely and upon sufferance.

1864.  Miss Braddon, H. Dunbar, xii. 91. I will not accept my liberty on sufferance.

1879.  McCarthy, Own Times, xxiii. II. 186. They were a Ministry on sufferance when they appealed to the country.

  † e.  An instance of this, a licence. Obs.

1547–55.  Ridley, Wks., 269. My lord, such things as St. Paul enjoined to the Gentiles for a sufferance … were only commandments of time.

1601.  Sir W. Cornwallis, Ess., II. l. Let them take my papers, and doe with them what they will. Sufferances of some kinde are holesomer then reuenge.

1645.  Milton, Tetrach., Wks. 1851, IV. 178. Our Saviour himself allows divorce to be a command. Neither doe they weak’n this assertion, who say it was only a sufferance.

  f.  Customs. In full, bill of sufferance: a licence to ship or discharge cargoes at specified ports.

1670.  Blount, Law Dict., Bill of Sufferance, is a Licence granted at the Custom-house to a Merchant, to suffer him to trade from one English Port to another, without paying Custom.

1676.  in Rep. Comm. H. Comm. (1803), XIV. 541. A sufferance granted to Mr. Jackson, to land salmon at St. Saviour’s Dock.

1750.  Beawes, Lex. Merc. (1752), 393. Coast Sufferances, are to be given without Fees.

1789.  in Rep. Comm. H. Comm. (1803), XIV. 540. Resolved that no sufferance be granted for landing foreign goods on any public wharf beyond the wharf commonly called Brown’s.

1832.  Gen. Order, in R. Ellis, Customs (1841), II. 52. Application must be made … for a baggage-sufferance … to authorize the landing … of such part … as may be unaccompanied by the proprietor.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 693. Transire, a custom-house document specifying the goods shipped by a coasting vessel, docketted with a sufferance for their discharge on arriving at the place of destination.

  6.  Law. The condition of the holder of an estate who, having come in by lawful right, continues to hold it after the title has ceased without the express leave of the owner. Phr. tenant, estate at sufferance († in sufferance).

  Cf. AF. par lounge suffraunce saunts autre title (Britton, II. xxiv.).

1579.  Spenser, Sheph. Cal., May, 106. The time was once,… When shepeheards had none inheritaunce, Ne of land, nor fee in sufferaunce.

1592.  West, 1st Pt. Symbol., § 42 d. A particuler estate in certaine, is an estate at will, or at sufferance.

1628.  Coke, On Litt., § 460. A Release to a Tenant at sufferance is voyd because he hath a possession without privity.

1766.  Blackstone, Comm., II. 150. An estate at sufferance, is where one comes into possession of land by lawful title, but keeps it afterwards without any title at all.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), I. 288. There is no privity of estate between a tenant at sufferance, and the owner of the land; for this tenant only holds by the laches of the owner.

1829.  Scott, Rob Roy, Introd. The family … occupied a good deal of property there,—whether by sufferance, by the right of the sword,… or by legal titles of various kinds [etc.].

1867.  Brande & Cox, Dict. Sci., etc., III. 638/2. Tenancy at or by Sufferance.

  b.  transf.

1570.  T. Norton, trans. Nowell’s Catech. (1853), 157. Foreign kings that held the kingdom of sufferance under the Roman empire.

a. 1633.  Austin, Medit. (1635), 266. This is no highway, but a way of Sufferance, by favour.

1680.  Morden, Geog. Rect., E. & W. Indies (1685), 257. The French … upon Sufferance or Incroachment … pretend to that which we call Nova Scotia.

1722.  De Foe, Plague, 136. This is not the king’s highway, it is a way upon sufferance.

1784.  Cowper, Task, V. 363. Whose freedom is by suff’rance, and at will Of a superior, he is never free.

1801.  S. & Ht. Lee, Canterb. T., IV. 16. The very house lately lent on sufferance to the Kraitzners.

1836.  Thirlwall, Greece, xxv. (1839), III. 365. If they were called upon to resign what they had occupied by abuse and held by sufferance.

  † 7.  Suspension, delay; respite. (Chiefly after OF. or med.L.) Obs.

1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. xxiii. 32. There was no delacyon of sufferaunce, nor mercy, but incontynent he was drawen … and quartered. Ibid., xxv. 36. To treat for a peace, and sufferaunce of warr.

1652.  Needham, trans. Selden’s Mare Cl., 404. This special kind of Truce was called Sufferance of War.

1738.  Chambers, Cycl. (ed. 2), Sufferance, in ancient customs, a delay, or respite of time, which the lord granted his vassal, for the performance of fealty and homage.

  8.  attrib. sufferance goods, goods shipped or landed under a sufferance; sufferance quay, wharf, a quay or wharf at which cargo could be shipped or landed under a sufferance (see 5 f).

1774.  Hull Dock Act, 6. To ship off … all goods called *Sufferance Goods. Ibid., 33. The first *sufferance quay or wharf shall be erected.

1882.  Encycl. Brit., XIV. 831/1. The frontage of the legal quays in 1795 was only 1419 feet, and of the sufferance quays about 3500 feet.

1784.  in Rep. Comm. H. Comm. (1803), XIV. 541. The petition of Mr. David Griffin, wharfinger, praying that a wharf purchased by him … may be used as a *sufferance wharf.

1796.  W. Vaughan, Exam., 7. Coasters generally load and discharge at Sufferance-Wharfs; some few of them at the Legal Quays.

1838.  in R. Ellis, Customs (1840), IV. 271. Landing-surveyor at legal quays to attend at sufferance wharfs for approval of values on application being made.