SUFFERANCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Sufferance

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noun

Sufferance n.

1.

The state of suffering; the bearing of pain; endurance. "He must not only die the death, But thy unkindness shall his death draw out To lingering sufferance."

2.

Pain endured; misery; suffering; distress. "The seeming sufferances that you had borne."

3.

Loss; damage; injury. (Obs.) "A grievous... sufferance on most part of their fleet."

4.

Submission under difficult or oppressive circumstances; patience; moderation. "But hasty heat tempering with sufferance wise."

5.

Negative consent by not forbidding or hindering; toleration; permission; allowance; leave. "In their beginning they are weak and wan, But soon, through sufferance, grow to fearful end." "Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by special leave and favor, they erected to themselves oratories."

6.

A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods. (Eng.)

Estate of sufferance (Law), the holding by a tenant who came in by a lawful title, but remains, after his right has expired, without positive leave of the owner.

On sufferance, by mere toleration; as, to remain in a house on sufferance.

Synonyms: Endurance; pain; misery; inconvenience; patience; moderation; toleration; permission.

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Etymology of 'Sufferance'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sufferance" Quotes from Famous Books

... had said to Carleton, "Who isn't Who, if they can play bridge?" But it had been important for Lady Dauntrey's plans not to be received on sufferance. She had meant and expected to be some one in particular. In the South African past of which people here knew nothing, but began to gossip much, it had been her dream to marry a man who could lead her at once to the ...

— The Guests Of Hercules • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... divided into chattels real and chattels personal. Chattels real are those interests in land for which no "real action" (see ACTION) lies; estates which are less than freehold (estates for years, at will, or by sufferance) are chattels real. Chattels personal are such things as belong immediately to the person of the owner, and for which, if they are injuriously withheld from him, he has no remedy other than by a personal action. Chattels personal are divided into ...

— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 - "Chtelet" to "Chicago" • Various

... profit by its salutary uses. He would then have acceded to power as the representative of a Creed, instead of being the leader of a Confederacy, and he would have been supported by earnest and enduring enthusiasm, instead of by that churlish sufferance which is the result of a supposed balance of advantages in his favour. This is the consequence of the tactics of those short-sighted intriguers, who persisted in looking upon a revolution as a mere party struggle, ...

— Coningsby • Benjamin Disraeli

... ourselves for the injuries we have for so many centuries of the world's history suffered. We are now decidedly in the majority on board this ship. We hold possession of her chief strongholds. Her captain, officers, and crew exist only on sufferance; so then, brother rats and sister rats, young and old, as it is our glorious privilege to belong to a free republic, express your opinions without fear. It is my business to note and ...

— Dick Cheveley - His Adventures and Misadventures • W. H. G. Kingston

... upon him are not so great as those resorted to by the proprietor of slaves in Algiers; but they are equally arbitrary and without appeal. He is free to a certain extent, even as the captives described by Cervantes; but his freedom is upon sufferance, and is brought to an end at any time at the pleasure of his seniors. The child therefore feels his way, and ascertains by repeated experiments how far he may proceed with impunity. He is like the slaves of the Romans on the days of the Saturnalia. He may do what he pleases, ...

— Thoughts on Man - His Nature, Productions and Discoveries, Interspersed with - Some Particulars Respecting the Author • William Godwin

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