English
suffer
Suffer comes from Middle English suffren, from Anglo-Norman sofrir, from Latin sufferō ‘to bear, suffer’ (sub- + ferō).
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō1‘to carry’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferō1‘to hold up, bear, suffer’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sofrir1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffren1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611suffer1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English suffer
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “If you may pleaſe to thinke I loue the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, English suffer‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, English suffer‘to carry’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferōWiktionary, English suffer‘to hold up, bear, suffer’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400sofrirWiktionary, English suffer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffrenWiktionary, English suffer
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611sufferWiktionary, English suffer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “If you may pleaſe to thinke I loue the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, fortune, burden, bearing, barrel, prefer, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, ferret, furtive, bahar, bier, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, insufferable, proffer, 113 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to be carrying’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, indifferently, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
differently, differentiation, indifferent, infertility, deference, infertile, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 68 more
through Latin ferō ‘to carry’
different, difference, relative, translation, extraordinary, reference, transfer, relation, offer, relate, frustration, translate, strangely, referendum, fertility, extravagant, referee, differ, fertile, frustrate, elated, infra, extraneous, ablation, fertilization, confer, elation, strangeness, defer, infer, collation, dilate, collate, ablative, fertilize, oblate, estrange, efferent, 78 more
Today it means
verb To undergo hardship.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “suffer”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / suffer