entry
suffering
/ˈsʌfərɪŋ/The experience or condition of pain and hardship
From Latin, via Old French and Middle English suffer (To carry or bear under).
Word Ancestry
Picture the Latin verb sufferre as a person carrying a heavy load beneath something overhead: sub means “under,” while ferre means “to carry.” That ancient image eventually traveled through Vulgar Latin and Old French sofrir before arriving in English as suffren. By the mid-fourteenth century, suffering could mean not merely enduring an ordeal but the painful condition itself—a shift sharpened by medieval sermons about Christ’s Passion and the trials of martyrs. The same deep root, *bʰer-, also lies behind words connected with bearing and carrying, so suffering is etymologically a burden one carries. In 1526, William Tyndale wrote, “For ye suffre foles gladly,” giving the verb a famous early English home; the word still asks us to imagine pain as weight held under the shoulders.
The Story
Picture the Latin verb sufferre as a person carrying a heavy load beneath something overhead: sub means “under,” while ferre means “to carry.” That ancient image eventually traveled through Vulgar Latin and Old French sofrir before arriving in English as suffren. By the mid-fourteenth century, suffering could mean not merely enduring an ordeal but the painful condition itself—a shift sharpened by medieval sermons about Christ’s Passion and the trials of martyrs. The same deep root, *bʰer-, also lies behind words connected with bearing and carrying, so suffering is etymologically a burden one carries. In 1526, William Tyndale wrote, “For ye suffre foles gladly,” giving the verb a famous early English home; the word still asks us to imagine pain as weight held under the shoulders.
Kin & Kindred
From 'suffer'·To carry or bear under; endure
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary