Etymograph

English

suffering

Suffering is suffer + -ing. Suffer comes from Old French sofrir, from Latin sufferō ‘to endure’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to carry’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti1‘to be carrying’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō1‘to carry’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō1‘to bear’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferō1‘to bear, endure’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sufferīre1reconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sofrir1‘to suffer, endure’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffren1‘suffer’
  9. English1500–presentsuffer1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1839suffering1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English suffering
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1839, Beacon, The deathbed of Voltaire: “Her last night was very suffering, the anodyne she…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, English suffering‘to bear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, English suffering‘to be carrying’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, English suffering‘to carry’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, English suffering‘to bear’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsufferōWiktionary, English suffering‘to bear, endure’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sufferīreWiktionary, English sufferingreconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400sofrirWiktionary, English suffering‘to suffer, endure’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500suffrenWiktionary, English suffering‘suffer’
  9. English1500–presentsufferWiktionary, English suffering
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1839sufferingWiktionary, English suffering. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1839, Beacon, The deathbed of Voltaire: “Her last night was very suffering, the anodyne she…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with suffering, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’

  • bar ← barre ← barre ← *barra ← *barros
  • birth ← birthe ← burðr ← *burþiz ← *bʰértis
  • broad ← brood ← brād ← *braid ← *braidaz
  • bread ← brede ← brǣdu ← *braidį̄ ← *braidaz
  • fortune ← fortuna ← *fortūnā ← *bʰr̥-tew-n-éh₂
  • burden ← birthene ← byrden ← *burþini ← *burþī
  • prefer ← preferren ← preferer ← praeferō ← *praiferō
  • barrel ← barel ← baril ← barre ← *barra
  • barn ← bearn ← *barną ← *bʰor-no-m
  • bore ← bára ← *bērō
  • fury ← fur ← *fōr ← *bʰṓr
  • baron ← baroun ← barōnem ← *barō

425 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Experiencing pain; characterized by suffering.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “suffering”. 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- / suffering