tolerant, a. (n.)
(ˈtɒlərənt)
[a. F. tolérant (16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), pr. pple. of tolérer to tolerate, ad. L. tolerānt-em, pr. pple. of tolerāre.]
A. adj. a. Disposed or inclined to tolerate or bear with something; practising or favouring toleration.
| 1784 Jos. White Bampton Lect. iii. 145 His [Gibbon's] eagerness to throw a veil over the deformities of the Heathen theology, to decorate with all the splendor of panegyric the tolerant spirit of its votaries. 1792 Burke Let. to Sir H. Langrishe Wks. VI. 318 A tolerant government ought not to be too scrupulous in its investigations. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 429 The religion of this Commonwealth [Massachusetts] is established..on a most liberal and tolerant plan. All persons, of whatever religious profession or sentiments, may worship God agreeably to the dictates of their own consciences, unmolested. 1838 Lytton Alice i. xi, His own early errors made him tolerant to the faults of others. 1841 Macaulay in Four C. Eng. Lett. (1880) 537 You were less tolerant than myself of little mannerisms. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost ix. 237 Though we are to be tolerant towards the persons of heretics, we are intolerant of the heresies themselves. |
b. transf. Of a thing: Capable of bearing or sustaining. Const. of.
| 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. ii. 169 How far the Articles were tolerant of a Catholic, or even of a Roman interpretation. |
c. Phys. Able to endure the action of a drug, an irritant, etc., without being affected; capable of resisting. Const. of. Cf. tolerance n. 1 b.
| 1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 748 Chrysophanic acid having at first given rise to irritation, I diluted it... The skin in two or three weeks became tolerant of it. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 210/2 The amount [of ipecacuanha] required to produce its effect varies considerably, children as a rule being more tolerant than adults. 1899 Syd. Soc. Lex., Tolerant, withstanding the use of a drug without injury. |
d. Forestry. Capable of enduring shade. More widely in Biol., capable of withstanding any particular environmental condition. Cf. tolerance n. 1 c. orig. U.S.
| 1898 Pinchot Adirondack Spruce 5 A selection forest is usually composed of species tolerant of shade. Ibid. 6 Spruce, Hemlock, Balsam, the Maples [etc.] are tolerant. 1929 Weaver & Clements Plant Ecol. xiii. 321 Tolerant species..retain their branches. 1943 D. V. Baxter Path. Forest Practice viii. 478 Certain woody species tolerant of wet soil. 1979 Austral. Jrnl. Bot. XXVII. 531 Coleochloa setifera is a desiccation-tolerant sedge which becomes yellow during drying. 1980 Spurr & Barnes Forest Ecol. (ed. 3) xiv. 380 A forest tree that can survive and prosper under a forest canopy is said to be tolerant. |
e. Biol. Of an organism: exhibiting tolerance (sense 1 d) to infection.
| 1904 E. R. Lankester in Q. Rev. July 128 A more precise nomenclature would describe the attacked organism..as ‘tolerant’, for it tolerates the presence and multiplication of the parasite without suffering by it. 1951 [see tolerance n. 1 d]. 1976 Gibbs & Harrison Plant Virology xv. 225/2 In the western U.S.A., where beet curly top virus is widespread, the sugar-beet industry has been saved by introducing tolerant cultivars. |
f. Immunol. Exhibiting immunological tolerance (sense 1 e). Const. of, to.
| 1951 Heredity V. 396 Not all dizygotic twins are completely tolerant to grafts of each other's skin. 1969 R. S. Weiser et al. Fund. Immunol. xviii. 227 The F1 hybrid is an example of an allogeneic recipient which for genetic reasons is immunologically tolerant of parental grafts. |
B. n. (subst. use of the adj.: so in Fr.) One who tolerates opinions or practices different from his own; one free from bigotry; a tolerationist.
| 1780 J. Brown Lett. on Toleration i. (1803) 35, I dare defy all the Tolerants on earth, to point out one thing..competent to masters and parents [etc.]. 1872 Morley Voltaire iii. 144 Henry the Fourth was a hero with Voltaire, for no better reason than that he was the first great tolerant, the earliest historic indifferent. |