Suffer

v. Forms: 3–4 so-, suffri, 3–5 soffre, 3–6 sofre, 3–7 suffre, 4–5 suffere, -yr, soeffre, 4–6 soffur, -ir, 4–7 sufer, 5–6 sofer, (3 soffry, 4 soffer, -or, soffrie, suffire, sufre, 5 sufferne, sofyr, suffyre, -ur, souer, 6 syffyr), 4– suffer. [a. AF. suffrir, soeffrir, -er = OF. sof(f)rir, mod.F. souffrir, corresp. to Pr. suffrir, so-, It. sofferire, Sp. sufrir, Pg. sof(f)rer:—pop. L. *sufferīre, for sufferre, f. suf- = SUB- 25 + ferre to bear.]

  I.  To undergo, endure.

  1.  trans. To have (something painful, distressing or injurious) inflicted or imposed upon one; to submit to with pain, distress or grief.

  a.  pain, death, punishment, † judgment; hardship, disaster; grief, † sorrow, care.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 274. Þenc oðe attrie pinen þet God suffrede oðe rode.

c. 1250.  Kent. Serm., in O. E. Misc., 27. He … þet diath solde suffri for man-ken.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4050. Ioseph … þat was þe chast and þat gentil þat siþen sufferd sa fele peril.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 718. Such domez, Þat þe wykked & þe worþy schal on wrake suffer.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Anel. & Arc., 167. Þe helle Which sufferith faire Anelyda þe Quene.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 195. Of me no maner charge it is What sorwe I soffre. Ibid., III. 7. I … suffre such a Passion, That men have gret compassion.

1482.  Monk of Evesham (Arb.), 67. The greuys peyne of that same stenche ys more intollerable … than any other peynys that synners sofryn.

1526.  Tindale, 2 Cor. xi. 25. I suffered thryse shipwracke.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 74 b. He suffered the lyke punyshment.

1651.  Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxviii. 163. If a subject shall … deny the authority of the Representative of the Common-wealth,… he may lawfully be made to suffer whatsoever the Representative will.

1676.  Charge, in Office of Clerk of Assize, 102. The offender shall suffer Imprisonment for a year.

1736.  Butler, Anal., I. ii. Wks. 1874, I. 35. All which we enjoy, and a great part of what we suffer, is put in our own power.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 166. Every one who does wrong is to suffer punishment by way of admonition.

1903.  J. H. Matthews, Mass & its Folklore, 113. This list contains the names of those Romans who had suffered martyrdom prior to the ‘closing’ or final settlement of the Canon.

  b.  wrong, injury, loss, shame, disgrace.

c. 1275.  Lay., 24854. Ne solle hii in londe soffri none sconde.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10394. Iesu crist … for vs sufferd gret despite.

1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 381. Strong thing it is to soffre wrong, And suffre schame is more strong.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), Pref. 1. He sufferd many reprufes and scornes.

c. 1450.  Godstow Reg., 176. For her expenses & harmys þat they sofred by the occasyon of þ^e seyde rent not I-payde in þ^e tyme I-sette.

1502.  Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 129. The most greuos sorous losses … that he hath suffred.

1640–1.  Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855), 76. Besyde the disgrace that our nation sufferis throw thair goeing naked in a strange countrie.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., ii. I. 175. Men … whose minds had been exasperated by many injuries and insults suffered at the hands of the Roundheads.

1891.  Law Rep., Weekly Notes, 79/2. The defendant contended that the plaintiff had suffered no loss.

1912.  Times, 19 Oct., 7/3. Montenegro, in short, has suffered some eclipse of her first flush of enthusiasm.

  c.  bodily injury or discomfort, a blow, wound, disease. arch.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 25490. Iesus, þat wald … suffer … Boffetes on þi soft chin.

c. 1330.  King of Tars, 57. Crist ur saveour, That soffrede woundes fyve.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 554. We … Þat suffred han þe dayez hete.

a. 1425.  trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc., 1. The forsaid sir Adam … suffrand fistulam in ano.

c. 1450.  Capgrave, Life St. Aug., xxiv. Þoo woundis whech þi son souered in his body.

1539.  Great Bible, Ps. xxxiv. 10. The lyons do lacke, and suffre hunger.

1576.  Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 28. The woundes which I suffered long agoe.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., III. 90. For feare that hee should suffer thirst.

1687.  A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., II. 26. I suffered much cold that Night, though I had on my Capot.

1819.  Scott, Ivanhoe, xliv. Complaints in the bowels and stomach, suffered by himself and his monks.

  2.  To go or pass through, be subjected to, undergo, experience (now usually something evil or painful).

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 15563. Bot sal we elles suffre samen, bath soft and sare.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. XI. 113. From hennes to soffre-Boþe-weole-and-wo. Ibid. (1399), Rich. Redeles, 36. Mekely to suffre what so him sente were.

c. 1420.  ? Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1638. What may worse be suffryd than ouer mykyll weele?

a. 1500.  St. Margaret, 62, in Brome Bk., 109. How they syffyryd wyll and woo And how thye dede ther merty[r]dam take.

1530.  Rastell, Bk. Purgat., I. v. Ease & pleasure doth comforte the nature of that thyng whych suffereth that ease and pleasure.

1598.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. ii. II. Wks. (1641), 123/1. And, for each body acts, or suffers ought, Having made Nouns, his Verbs he also wrought.

a. 1656.  Stanley, Hist. Philos., V. xi. (1701), 185/2. Whensoever they seem to effect any thing, we shall find that they suffer it long before.

1662.  Tuke, Adv. Five Hours, IV. i. W’ had better suffer than deserve our fate.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xxiii. Here they suffered a siege.

1839.  Keightley, Hist. Eng., II. 28. Three more … suffered the same fate.

  3.  intr. To undergo or submit to pain, punishment or death.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 20280. He wel i suffer o na care.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., A. 940. Þat is þe cyte þat þe lombe con fonde To soffer inne sor for manez sake.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. I. 65. We shulden maken us redy to suffre in oure body for þe name of Crist.

a. 1400.  Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 156. He feled neuere lisse ne lith, Þerfore hym þouȝte beter legles Þen so to suffre þer-wyþ.

c. 1450.  trans. De Imitatione, III. lxii. 144. Suffre paciently, if þou can not suffre ioingly.

1546.  Gardiner, Declar. Joye, 38. S. Paule sayth, he suffreth for the electes that they myght be salued.

1548–9.  (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Catech. Jesus Christ … Whiche … Suffered under Ponce Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.

1686.  trans. Chardin’s Trav. Persia, 118. We suffer’d for no want of any thing.

a. 1721.  Prior, Dial. Dead (1907), 258. Every Man is obliged to suffer for what is right, as to oppose what is Unjust.

1772.  W. Williams, in Bk. Praise (1863), 244. In Thy Presence we can conquer, We can suffer, we can die.

1841.  Thackeray, Gt. Hoggarty Diam., ix. Gracious Heavens!… a lady of your rank to suffer in this way! Ibid. (1848), Van. Fair, xxviii. He suffered hugely on the voyage, during which the ladies were likewise prostrate.

1856.  Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), II. vii. 227. It was a hard thing to suffer for an opinion; but there are times when opinions are as dangerous as acts.

1889.  Sat. Rev., 9 Feb., 145/2. A brave man suffers in silence.

1905.  C. G. Hartley, Weaver’s Shuttle, 268. The child who moves restlessly when suffering.

  b.  from or (now rare) under a disease or ailment.

1800.  Med. Jrnl., III. 422. She had suffered much from disease.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, lv. It was only one of Mrs. Wenham’s headaches which prevented us—she suffers under them a good deal.

1884.  M. Mackenzie, Dis. Throat & Nose, II. 176. He had suffered from delirium tremens.

1898.  Flor. Montgomery, Tony, 10. She was suffering from what she was pleased to call a fit of depression.

  4.  To be the object of an action, be acted upon, be passive. Now rare.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Boeth., V. met. iv. (1868), 167. Yif þe þriuyng soule … ne doþ no þing by hys propre moeuynges, but suffriþ.

1548.  Vicary, Anat., ix. 79. So that eche of them [sc. man’s and woman’s seed in generation] worketh in other, and suffereth in other.

1587.  Golding, De Mornay, x. (1592), 145. The Elements haue power and force to do, whereas matter hath abilitie but onely to suffer or to be wrought vpon.

1656.  Stanley, Hist. Philos., V. vi. (1701), 161/2. These principles are called Elements, of which Air and Fire have a faculty to move and effect; the other parts, Water and Earth to suffer.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 158. Fall’n Cherube, to be weak is miserable Doing or Suffering.

1818.  Stoddart, Gram., in Encycl. Metrop. (1845), I. 5/1. In language, a verb is a word which signifies to do, or to suffer, as well as to be.

  † 5.  trans. To submit patiently to. Obs.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7281. Some … sofrede as hii noȝt ne miȝte al þe oþeres wille.

1382.  Wyclif, 1 Pet. ii. 19. If … eny man suffrith [Vulgate sustinet] sorewes, or heuynesses, suffringe [patiens] vniustly.

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 71. Wher as sche soffreth al his wille, As sche which wende noght misdo.

c. 1400.  Cursor M., 29103 (Cott. Galba). To luke if þai in gude life lend, And suffers what he will þam send.

  † 6.  intr. To endure, hold out, wait patiently. (Often with abide, bide.) To suffer long: to be long-suffering. Obs.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. IV. 18. Sette my Sadel vppon Soffre-til-I-seo-my-tyme.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xvi. (Magdalena), 19. Þou bidis & sufferis, til þat we thru repentance wil turne to þe.

c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 808. Firumbras was hard, & suffrede wel, þoȝ hit him greuede sare.

a. 1400.  Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 731. Of alle þe vertues þat þer beone, To suffre, hit is a þing of prys.

c. 1450.  Merlin, 165. Marganors … badde hem suffre and a-bide, while thei myght, for to socour theire peple.

1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. clxxii. 209. He was sore displeased therwith, and suffred tyll he herde howe they were put to their raunsome.

1526.  Tindale, 1 Cor. xiii. 4. Love suffreth longe, and is corteous.

1535.  Coverdale, Ecclus. ii. 4. Suffre in heuynesse, and be pacient in thy trouble.

1563.  B. Googe, Eglogs, viii. (Arb.), 65. God … suffers long, reuengyng slow.

  † 7.  trans. To resist the weight, stress or painfulness of; to endure, bear, stand. Obs. exc. dial.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 217. Whan þei myȝte nouȝt in þe holy day suffre on hire piliouns and here cappes for hete.

1388.  Wyclif, Exod. xviii. 18. The werk is aboue thi strengthis, thou aloone maist not suffre it.

1481.  Caxton, Godfrey, viii. 29. That they shold charge them with suche tributes that they myght not suffre.

1551.  T. Wilson, Logic (1580), 51. Children can suffer muche colde.

1592.  West, 1st Pt. Symbol., § 102 b. Any such corrasiue … medicine … as the said H. shal think his nature is vnable to suffer or abide.

1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 146. Some [Persians] … can suffer short wide stockings of English cloth or Kersies.

1640.  T. Brugis, Marrow of Physicke, II. 140. Let the pan be no hotter than you can suffer your hand on it.

1673.  Ray, Journ. Low C., 70. These Waters [sc. Baths of Aken] … are very easie to suffer.

1684.  Contempl. State of Man, II. vii. (1699), 202. If one cannot tell how to suffer the Tooth-ach, Headach, or the pain of the Chollick.

  absol.  1615.  Markham, Eng. Housew., II. i. (1668), 15. Drink thereof morning and evening as hot as you can suffer.

  8.  To be affected by, subjected to, undergo (an operation or process, esp. of change). Now only as transf. of 1.

a. 1425.  trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc., 31. If it be nede for to chaufe it more for þe terebentyne, loke þat it suffre noȝt mych hete. Ibid., 80. Þe membrez … may noȝt withstande to þe strength of þe vitriol; and so þai suffre liquefaccion of it.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 400. Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a Sea-change Into something rich, & strange.

1659.  Pearson, Creed (1839), 361. He suffered a true and proper dissolution at his death.

1678.  G. Mackenzie, Crim. Laws Scot., I. vi. § 19. 51. Their goods should be put under sicker Burrows,… under which they must remain ay and while they suffer an Assize.

1756.  C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, I. 80. Bodies void of aqueous humidity can neither suffer fermentation nor putrefaction.

1787.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), II. 89. The conveyance of the treaty itself is suffering a delay here at present.

1793.  Burke, Corr. (1844), IV. 158. The very language of France has suffered considerable alterations since you were conversant in French books.

1816.  Singer, Hist. Cards, 33. Bullet allows this explanation to be very plausible, but says it suffers some very material difficulties.

1831.  Brewster, Optics, i. 12. Let rays AM, AD, AN,… fall upon the mirror at the points M, D, and N, and suffer reflexion at these points.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., II. xvii. 319. Along these lines the marginal ice suffers the greatest strain.

1877.  Huxley, Physiogr., xix. 318. The figure of the ship suffers a change.

  9.  intr. To undergo the extreme penalty; to be put to death, be executed. Now rare in literary use exc. of martyrdom.

1570.  Foxe, A. & M. (ed. 2), III. 1972/2, marg. The chief dispatcher of al Gods Sainctes that suffered in Q. Maries time.

1581.  Allen, Apologie, 87 b. England can not lacke Albans, whose Protomartyr being of that name … suffered … to saue his Christian guest.

[1638.  Nabbes, Covent Garden, IV. iii. in Bullen, O. P., N.S. I. 73. The Gentlewomen will not see us hang’d. But they may suffer us, and that’s a word for hanging.]

1652.  Lamont, Diary (Maitland Club), 46. He was … sent to Stirling … wher he was appointed to suffer, and was executed there.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 13 June 1649. Sir John Owen, newly freed from sentence of death among the Lords that suffer’d.

1752.  Miss Blandy’s Own Acc., 63. Miss Blandy suffered in a black Bombazine short Sack and Petticoat, with a clean white Handerchief drawn over her Face.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xix. She is a witch, that should have been burned with them that suffered at Haddington.

1828.  P. Cunningham, N. S. Wales (ed. 3), II. 279. ‘I have received a letter since, acquainting me that he has suffered.’ ‘Suffered!… dear me, what has he suffered?’ ‘He has been hanged, sir.’

1861.  Ld. Brougham, Brit. Const., xv. 238. Several of his adversaries were condemned to death, and suffered accordingly.

1877.  J. Morris, Troubles Cath. Forefathers, Ser. III. 38, note. Edward Transham or Stransham,… suffered at Tyburn.

  † b.  To be killed or destroyed. Obs.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., III. ii. 16. But let the frame of things dis-ioynt, Both the Worlds suffer. Ibid. (1610), Temp., II. ii. 39. This is no fish, but an Islander, that hath lately suffered by a Thunderbolt.

  10.  To sustain injury, damage or loss; to be injured or impaired. Const. from, under.

c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonn., cxxiv. It suffers not in smilinge pomp, nor falls Vnder the blow of thralled discontent. Ibid. (1601), Twel. N., II. v. 144. Mal. M. But then there is no consonancy in the sequell that suffers vnder probation: A. should follow, but O. does.

1697.  H. Wanley, in Bodl. Q. Rec. (1915), Jan., 107. In the Library, many such [sc. books of Prints] haue suffered extreamly.

1756.  C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, I. 156. The teeth suffer in mastication or chewing the aliments.

1796.  Charlotte Smith, Marchmont, IV. 222. Suffering from the fatal law entanglements of his father.

1815.  Scott, Guy M., xl. How must he in the meantime be suffering in her opinion?

1841.  Thackeray, Shrove Tuesday in Paris, Wks. 1900, XIII. 569. Debt is a staple joke to our young men, ‘Who suffers for your coat?’ is, or used to be, a cant phrase.

1870.  F. R. Wilson, Ch. Lindisf., 69. The edifice suffered in the civil wars under Cromwell.

1894.  P. Fitzgerald, in Daily News, 26 Sept., 6/4. It [sc. the Cathedral] has not suffered—the correct phrase—from the restorers.

1915.  Times, 26 April, 10/3. Other Army Corps suffered even more severely.

  11.  causative. To inflict pain upon. Obs. exc. dial.

c. 1500.  Lancelot, 1368. Yow sufferith them, oppressith & anoyith.

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., V. i. 153. A hot ore-weening Curre,… Who being suffer’d with the Beares fell paw, Hath clapt his taile, betweene his legges.

1893.  Wiltshire Gloss., Suffer, to punish, to make suffer. ‘I’ll suffer you, you young rascal!’

  II.  To tolerate, allow.

  12.  trans. To endure the existence, presence or activity of (a person); to bear with, put up with, tolerate. Now rare and arch.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14749. Ferli thinc vs Quarfor þat we þe suffer þus, Quatkin thing can þou sai to Do, quar-for we suld þe bu?

1340.  Ayenb., 38. Þe kueade domesmen þet hise soffreþ.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 178. A man schulde suffur anoþur, and muche more a prelate schulde wisely suffur hys sugettis.

a. 1400.  Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 494. Hou þat he suffreþ þe and me Wiþ miht al þat he may.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, VII. xi. 229. Euer curtoisly ye haue suffred me.

1487.  Cely Papers (Camden), 166. The Comyns wyll nott suffur hym.

1535.  Coverdale, Judg. ii. 23. Thus the Lorde suffred all these nacions.

c. 1585.  [R. Browne], Answ. Cartwright, 73. They are to bee suffered as brethren in the churche.

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 438, ¶ 4. How pityful is the Condition of being only suffered?

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxviii. He suffered his grandmother with a good-humoured indifference.

1872.  Howells, Wedd. Journ., 99. They are suffering and perpetuating him.

  13.  To allow (a thing) to be done, exist or take place; to allow to go on without interference or objection, put up with, tolerate. arch. or dial.

c. 1290.  Beket, 1601, in S. Eng. Leg., 152. I-nelle none costomes soffri … Þat aȝein sothnesse beoth.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 3337. Men, for youre manchipe na more þat suffreþ.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 174. Erchdekenes and officiales … Lat sadel hem with siluer owre synne to suffre.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1846, Lucrece. That nolde she suffre by no wey.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 5081. It falles to a fole his foly to shew, And a wise man witterly his wordes to suffer.

c. 1430.  Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 67. Suffre at thy table no distractioun.

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 20. The sede [sc. of Cockole] is rounde and blacke, and maye well be suffred in a breade-corne.

1584.  Lodge, Alarm agst. Usurers, 15. Our lawes … although they suffer a commoditie, yet confirme not they taking.

1592.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., IV. viii. 8. A little fire is quickly trodden out, Which being suffer’d, Riuers cannot quench.

1604.  E. G[rimstone], trans. D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. iv. 128. The Easterly winds raine continually, not suffering their contraries.

1660.  Jer. Taylor, Worthy Commun., ii. § 2. 124. We suffer religion, and endure the laws of God but we love them not.

1716.  Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett., I. vi. 19. I have … here … had the permission of touching the relics, which was never suffered in places where I was not known.

1806.  Gouv. Morris, in Sparks, Life & Writ. (1832), III. 229. France will no longer suffer the existing government.

1894.  Hall Caine, Manxman, VI. xiii. 405. They wouldn’t have me tell thee before because of thy body’s weakness, but now they suffer it.

  † b.  To allow to remain; to leave. Obs. rare.

c. 1450.  Merlin, 104. Syr, we pray yow that the swerde be suffred yet in the ston to Passh.

1584.  Cogan, Haven Health (1636), 101. A rosted apple, suffered untill it were cold, and then eaten last at night … hath loosed the belly.

  † c.  To admit of. Obs. rare.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 13037. Sco wist þat rightwis was his sau, Moght noght suffer na gain-sau.

1793.  Burke, Corr. (1844), IV. 199. It is not permitted to Sir Gilbert Elliot to be an ordinary man; neither his nature nor the times will suffer it.

  14.  Const. acc. and inf. († pple., compl. phr.) or clause: To allow or permit a person, animal or inanimate thing to be or to do so-and-so.

  a.  a person or animal.

  with acc. and inf.  c. 1290.  Beket, 1283, in S. Eng. Leg., 143. Þat a Man ne beo i-soffred to gon forth mid is wille.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 87. He … wol nat suffren hem … Neither to been yburyed nor ybrent.

1453.  Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889), 279. The suynerd of the towne shulde not suffre the swyne to cum into the strone.

a. 1466.  Gregory, Chron., in Hist. Coll. Cit. Lond. (Camden), 146. They of the sayde market shalle nought ressayvyn nor sufferne to entre, any preson … in to the sayde markett.

1486.  Bk. St. Albans, f v b. Who that … suffrith hys wyfe to seche mony halowys.

1540–1.  Elyot, Image Gov. (1549), 50. In offices he seldome suffred to be any deputies.

1583.  Stocker, Civ. Warres Lowe C., III. 99. [They] woulde not suffer the persons aforesayde come in.

1658.  Earl Monm., trans. Paruta’s Wars Cyprus, 121. He conjured them, not to suffer the victorious army incur any shame.

c. 1665.  Mrs. Hutchinson, Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846), 28. Greatness of courage would not suffer him to put on a vizor.

1760–2.  Goldsm., Cit. W., cxix. I was not suffered to stir far from the house, for fear I should run away.

1813.  Miss Mitford, in L’Estrange, Life (1870), I. vii. 245. Maria fell into a sort of hysteric of fright … and anger because she was not suffered to wear a diamond necklace.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Vanderput & S., vi. 91. He has suffered the storks to build on the summer house.

1898.  Besant, Orange Girl, II. ix. Her sins lie upon the head of those who suffer her … to grow up without religion.

  with acc. and pple.  a. 1400.  Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS., 494. What mon wolde now suffre so His sone I-slayen.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 5. Neyther would Duke Frederick … unlesse he judged him to be an honest man, suffer him so long unpunyshed.

1562.  Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, Wks. (S.T.S.), I. 110. To suffir an harlot in his wyfes tyme lyand with an wthir harlot?

1606.  Chapman, M. D’Olive, II. What meanes your Grace to suffer me abus’d thus?

  with acc. and compl. phr.  1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. ii. 262. It were but necessarie you were wak’t, Least being suffer’d in that harmefull slumber, The mortall Worme might make the sleepe eternall.

1624.  Capt. J. Smith, Virginia, V. 179. Master More … by no meanes would admit of any diuision, nor suffer his men from finishing their fortifications.

1705.  trans. Bosman’s Guinea, 336. He is obliged to suffer the King of Popo in quiet Possession of his Island.

  with clause.  13[?].  R. Glouc., 1794 (MS. B). Þe kyng hym wolde ȝeue lyf, ac ys men nolde noȝt, Ne suffre, þat þer were o liue eny of here fon.

1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 1056. Suffre ȝe nolle þat we by-wepe in þis word ȝour wikkede dedus.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Sompn. Prol., 7. I yow biseke, that of youre curteisye,… As suffereth me I may my tale telle.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1839), xxiii. 252. And therfore thei suffren, that folk of alle Lawes may peysibely duellen amonges hem.

1457.  Harding, Chron., Proem xiv. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1912), Oct., 743. But so was sette your noble chaunceller, He wolde nought suffre I had such waryson.

1611.  Bible, Judges xvi. 26. Suffer mee, that I may feele the pillars whereupon the house standeth.

1720.  Ozell, Vertot’s Rom. Rep., II. xiv. 320. He ought not to suffer that one of his Fathers Assassins should enjoy the Fruit of his crime.

  b.  an inanimate or immaterial thing.

  with acc. and inf.  a. 1300.  Cursor M., 19809. To suffer þar na wrang be don.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), Pref. 2. His precious blude, þe whilk he sufferd be schedd for vs.

1481.  Cov. Leet Bk., 475. Nor … suffryng eny thyng to be commytted … wherby the seid trewes … myght fall in vyolacion.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 57 b. To suffer the sayde mencioned mariage, to take effect.

1622.  S. Ward, Christ All in All (1627), 31. He would neuer suffer any part of the repute or honour of any his acts or labours, rest vpon his owne head.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 2 Nov. 1644. A sea of thick cloudes … every now and then suffering the top of some other mountaine to peepe through.

1774.  Burke, Corr. (1844), I. 502. If … we should suffer any thing to be lost … by our remissness.

1827.  Scott, Highl. Widow, v. She suffered his complaints … to die away without returning any answer.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. II. 120. The answer was so unpleasing to James that he did not suffer it to be printed in the Gazette.

1871.  B. Stewart, Heat (ed. 2), § 115. The acid will retain the water and will not suffer it to evaporate.

  with acc. and pple.  a. 1325.  MS. Rawl. B. 520, lf. 31 b. Hoe … wollez bluþeloker suffren felonies idone to straunge passen biþoute peine þane aditi þe felons.

1563.  Homilies, II. Agst. Peril Idol., I. Joas, and other Princes whiche eyther sette vp, or suffred suche aultars or Images vndestroyed.

1589.  Cooper, Admon., 217. They … striue against God…, who wil not suffer it unpunished.

1592.  Kyd, Sp. Trag., III. xiii. 3. I, heauen will be reuenged of euery ill; Nor will they suffer murder vnrepaide.

1615.  Chapman, Odyss., XIV. 133. These men … will never suffer left Their vniust wooing of his wife.

  with acc. and compl. phr.  c. 1375.  Cursor M., 22620 (Fairf.). Quy þi wrecched hande-werk in wa in þis fire þou suffris squal.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 344. Þis lif is ful of sorowe … þat suffriþ not blis wiþ it.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 361. The faucon which … soeffreth nothing in the weie, Wherof that he mai take his preie.

1477.  Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 21 b. He that wol not suffre the stenche of my careyn aboue the erthe.

1525.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. lxxx. 242. Nowe we wyll suffre in rest a season the armye of Castell.

  15.  To allow oneself, submit to be treated in a certain way; to endure, consent to be or to do something.

  a.  refl. arch.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 17239. I sufferd me for þe be slain.

c. 1450.  Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.), 72. Sampson soeffred hym self be bonden.

1526.  Tindale, 1 Cor. vi. 7. Why rather suffre ye not youre selves to be robbed?

1671.  Woodhead, St. Teresa, II. xi. 92. Love beginning to afford them sensible consolations, they too much suffer themselves to be carried away therewith.

1743.  Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 197. This is a Place that a Man is oblig’d sometimes to suffer himself to be used ill.

1837.  Lockhart, Scott, iv. (1871), 174. Brown Adam [sc. Scott’s horse] never suffered himself to be backed but by his master.

1877.  in Bryce, Amer. Commw. (1888), li. II. 285. Considerable proportions of them in their devotion to politics suffer themselves to be driven from the walks of regular industry.

  † b.  intr. Obs.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, I. 780. He soffreþ noȝt to be to-trede, And of bestes deuoured.

a. 1325.  MS Rawl. B. 520, lf. 32 b. Ȝif a nellez noȝt suffri to ben resteid.

1474.  Caxton, Chesse, I. i. (1883), 9. He might not suffre to be repreuid and taught of hym.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, lxxii. 94. Thus Jesus with his woundis wyde, As martir suffirit for to de.

1538.  Starkey, England (1878), 178. Our cuntrey, wych wyl not suffur to be so ornat and so beutyful, in euery degre, as other cuntreys be.

1632.  Sir T. Hawkins, trans. Mathieu’s Unhappy Prosperitie, 80. He … endured contradiction, and sometime suffered to be cut off in his opinions.

a. 1665.  Sir K. Digby, Priv. Mem. (1827), 278. As long as I can march at ease by myself, I will never suffer to be carried away from myself by the throng.

1764.  Goldsm., Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1771), II. 308. I must not suffer to have the laws broken before my face.

  16.  trans. (by ellipsis of inf.) To permit or allow (a person) to do a certain thing; † to let alone. Also occas. absol. arch.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 187. So hadde Alfrede my broþer helped me, if Godwyn had i-suffred [1432–50 hade suffrede hym].

1477.  Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 1. As fer as myn fraylnes wold suffre me.

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 39. Let them [sc. lambs] sucke as longe as the dammes wyll suffre theym.

1530.  Palsgr., 742/2. Let us suffer hym and se what he wolde do.

1590.  Greene, Orl. Fur., Wks. (Grosart), XIII. 135. I wish thee well, Orlando; get thee gone, Say that a centynell did suffer thee.

1604.  Dekker, King’s Entert., 277. Even children (might they have been suffred) would gladly have spent their little strength.

1663.  Wood, Life (O.H.S.), I. 483. Then all went in, soe many that were suffered.

1700.  T. Brown, trans. Fresny’s Amusem., 97. One of them would have been poking a Cranes Bill down his Throat,… but the Doctors would not suffer him.

1818.  Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 492. Let us hear him now, if indignation will suffer us.

1878.  J. P. Hopps, Jesus, x. 37. How would I have blest you if you would have suffered me!

  † 17.  With two objects (or the equivalent): To allow a person to have a certain thing. Obs.

c. 1290.  Beket, 1615, in S. Eng. Leg., 152. Bote þov suffri him is riȝte lawes Ichulle bi-come þi fo.

c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1575, Hypsipyle. Alle tho that sufferede hym his wille.

1481.  Caxton, Godfrey, lxx. 115. The turke … wold not suffre them of nothyng, sauf to occupye and laboure therthe.

  † 18.  intr. a. Of a person (transf. of a thing): To allow a certain thing to be done. Obs.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4198. & þe wule he wolde þis tendre þing wemmy foule ynou, & heo ne miȝte sofry noȝt, Mid lecherye he hire slou.

1382.  Wyclif, Luke xxii. 51. Suffre ȝe til hidur [Tindale, Soffre ye thus farre forthe].

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 8094. A gloue of þat gay gate he belyue,… None seond but hir-selfe, þat suffert full well.

1605.  B. Jonson, Sejanus, IV. Still, do’st thou suffer Heau’n? will no flame, No heate of sinne make thy iust wrath to boile?

1613.  Purchas, Pilgrimage, IV. xviii. (1614), 437. The name … remayning as diuers languages and dialects will suffer, almost the same.

  † b.  Of a condition of things: To allow or admit of a certain thing being done. Obs.

1548–9.  (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Priv. Baptism. And saye the Lordes prayer, yf the tyme will suffre.

1573.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 47. If weather will suffer, this counsell I giue, Leaue sowing of wheat before Hallomas eue.

1612.  Brinsley, Lud. Lit., xxii. (1627), 256. If his leisure will suffer.