Also 5–6 toll-. [a. F. tolérance (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. rare L. tolerāntia, f. tolerāre to TOLERATE: see -ANCE. But from 16th c. prob. directly referred to the L.]
† 1. The action or practice of enduring or sustaining pain or hardship; the power or capacity of enduring; endurance. Obs.
1412–20. Lydg., Chron. Troy, II. 7014. Riȝt so convenient Is to þe wyse … with suffraunce, In al his port to haue tolleraunce.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 230. Sage counsell and wisdome, in dangers and travels, we tearme tolerance, patience and fortitude.
a. 1626. Bacon, Apophthegm., 138, in Resuscitatio (1661), 311. Diogenes, one terrible frosty Morning, came into the Market-place; And stood Naked shaking to shew his Tolerance.
1650–3. trans. Hales’ Dissert. de Pace, in Phenix (1708), II. 366. [They] have omitted nothing to the most certain Hope of Salvation, and to all the toil of a pious Life, and to the tolerance of Christ’s Cross.
1814. W. Taylor, in Monthly Mag., XXXVII. 527. We do not ascribe superior tolerance to the protestant dissenters for enduring more patiently their privations.
b. Phys. The power, constitutional or acquired, of enduring large doses of active drugs, or of resisting the action of poison, etc. Cf. TOLERANT c, TOLERATE v. 1 b, TOLERATION 1 b.
1875. H. C. Wood, Therap. (1879), 153. By the aid of opiates and careful dilution a species of tolerance was often obtained for these heroic doses.
1876. Bartholow, Mat. Med. (1879), 236. When emetic doses even are continued in some subjects, this effect finally ceases, and the drug is borne without producing any gastric symptoms. To this state has been applied the term tolerance.
1890. Billings, Nat. Med. Dict., Tolerance, power of endurance whereby a dangerous drug can be safely taken in excessive doses.
c. Forestry. The capacity of a tree to endure shade. Cf. TOLERANT d. U.S.
1898. Pinchot, Adirondack Spruce, 6. A provisional scale of tolerance is as follows, beginning with the species which demand most light: Tamarack, Poplar, Bird Cherry, White and Black Ash [etc.]. Ibid., 23. All species … are not equal in their tolerance of shade, their resistance to storm and disease [etc.]. Ibid., 30. Black Cherry stands about midway in the scale of tolerance among the trees in the Park.
† 2. The action of allowing; licence, permission granted by an authority. Obs.
1539. Act 31 Hen. VIII., c. 13 § 19. Without any other licence, dispensacion or tollerance of the kinges highnesse.
1567. Reg. Privy Council Scot., I. 571. Na persoun sould intromet thairwith … without his rycht licence and tollerance had thairto. Ibid. (1580–1), 357. Be the Kingis Majesties permissioun and tollerance.
3. The action or practice of tolerating; toleration; the disposition to be patient with or indulgent to the opinions or practices of others; freedom from bigotry or undue severity in judging the conduct of others; forbearance; catholicity of spirit.
1765. Lowth, Lett. to Warburton, 13. It admits … of no tolerance, no intercommunity of various sentiments, not the least difference of opinion.
1809–10. Coleridge, Friend (1865), 56. The only true spirit of tolerance consists in our conscientious toleration of each other’s intolerance.
1841. Myers, Cath. Th., III. § 5. 15. It may not accord with the undisciplined instincts of some to associate the tolerance of Imperfection in connection with the instrumentality of Perfection.
1868. Helps, Realmah, vi. (1876), 89. Tolerance, or to use a more Christian word, charity.
1902. C. Lennox, J. Chalmers, xiv. (1905), 70/1. With the same large tolerance he satisfied the curiosity of the astonished black.
4. Technical uses. a. Coining. The small margin within which coins, when minted, are allowed to deviate from the standard fineness and weight: also called allowance. (Cf. TOLERATION 5, REMEDY sb. 4.)
1868. Rep. Royal Commission on Internat. Coinage, 95. As to the minimum of remedy or tolerance to be allowed on coining, it will be observed that there is a near agreement among the Mints of different countries on this head. Ibid., App. xi. 228. Gold coins…. The margin allowed for error in coining, known as the remedy or tolerance, is calculated upon the pound troy of coin, and amounts to 15 grains for the fineness, plus or minus, or 1/16 of a carat, and 12 grains for the weight.
b. Mech. An allowable amount of variation in the dimensions of a machine or part.
1909. Cent. Dict. Supp., s.v., A tolerance of .00025 [= 1/4000] of an inch is allowed above or below the exact dimension in fine machine parts.
