sufferance

noun

1. (archaic, countable, uncountable)Endurance, especially patiently, of pain or adversity.

   “At length when as he ſaw her haſtie heat / Abate, and panting breath begin to fayle, / He through long ſufferãce growing now more great, / Roſe in his strength, and gan her freſh aſſayle, [...]”

   “I indulged in this meditation for a moment, and then again addressed the mourner, who stood leaning against the bed with that expression of resigned despair, of complete misery, and a patient sufferance of it, which is far more touching than any of the insane ravings or wild gesticulation of untamed sorrow.”

   “In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for the select circle—a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening for a pipe and a cheerful glass. [...] Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance; they were received with distance and suspicion.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Acquiescence or tacit compliance with some circumstance, behavior, or instruction.

   “[M]oſt wretched man, / That to affections does the bridle lend; / In their beginning they are weake and wan, / But ſoone through ſuff'rance growe to fearefull end; [...]”

   “Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by special leave and favour, they erected to themselves oratories.”

   “When his talk trespasses beyond sufferance, I chastise him.”

   “One of the benefits that Epic touts is its interoperability […] there's a large ecosystem of aftermarket add-ons that work with Epic. But Epic is a product, not a protocol, so its much-touted interop exists entirely on its terms, and at its sufferance. If Epic chooses, a doctor using its products can send files to a doctor using a rival product. But Epic can also veto that activity.”

3. (archaic, countable, uncountable)Suffering; pain, misery.

   “The sufferances which simply touch us in minde, doe much lesse afflict me, then most men [...].”

   “Fortune, do diuorce / It from the bearer, 'tis a ſufferance, panging / As ſoule and bodies ſeuering.”

   “[T]he streak / Of sufferance yet upon his forehead lay, / Where the blue veins look'd shadowy, shrunk, and weak; [...]”

4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Loss; damage; injury.

   “The deſperate Tempeſt has ſo bang'd the Turke, / That their deſignement halts; Another ſhippe of Venice hath ſeene / A greeuous wracke and ſufferance / On moſt part of the Fleete.”

5. (British, countable, historical, uncountable)A permission granted by the customs authorities for the shipment of goods.