sufferable, a. Obs. exc. arch.
(ˈsʌfərəb(ə)l)
Forms: 4 suffrabil, suffreable, 4–6 suffrable, 5 souffrable, suffyrabyl, sufferabylle, suffurable, 6 sufferabil, Sc. suffrabile, 4– sufferable. Also subferabylle.
[a. OF. suffrable = It. sofferevole, ad. med.L. sufferābilis, f. sufferre to suffer. Subsequently modified in form by assimilation to suffer v.
A L. type *sufferibilis is represented by It. soffribile, Sp. sufrible, Pg. sof(f)rivel.]
† 1. Patient, long-suffering. Also const. of: Willing to submit to. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8641 Þey ogh to be suffrable and meke, And no foly on ouþer men seke. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 442 Oon of vs two moste bowen doutelees, And sith a man is moore resonable Than womman is, ye moste been suffrable. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 2934 Of swich writyng be of right suffrable. Ibid. 4423 Thogh he to venge hym tarie, & be suffrable. 1568 E. Tilney Flower Friendsh. C ij b, Sufferable in the importunities of his wyfe. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. viii. in Holinshed 28/1 The [Irish] people are thus enclined, religious, franke, amorous, irefull, sufferable of infinite paynes, very glorious. 1611 Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. (1614) 132/2 They rather live rudely..and with a sufferable ease, ignorant of ambition, enjoy those contentments. |
† b. Capable of endurance. Obs.
| 1482 Caxton Godfrey cxlix. 221 He toke with hym a lytil companye of them that were moost suffrable. |
2. That can be ‘suffered’ or put up with; bearable, tolerable, endurable. Also, tolerably good.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cvi. 29 Þe persecuciouns he tempird and made þaim suffrabil. 1382 Wyclif Matt. x. 15 It shall be more suffreable to the lond of men of Sodom and Gomor in the day of iugement, than to that citee. 1440 Alphabet of Tales 345 It was mor suffrable vnto hur, þe sorow of dead, þan was þe mirthe of life. 1493 [H. Parker] Dives & Pauper (W. de W.) vii. v. 281/1 The lordshyp of this worlde is sufferable & worshypfull. 1574 Newton Health Mag. 35 Let us touche suche sortes of fyshes as are best and most sufferable. 1578 Timme Calvin on Gen. 94 The more sufferable..that the Commandment of God was the less tolerable was their Crookedness in refusing to obey. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 84 Manie Anabaptists..are more justifiable before God, and more sufferable with man, then Presbyterians and strict Calvinists. 1725 Defoe Voy. round World (1840) 92 Insolent to a degree beyond what was sufferable. 1814 Earl of Dudley Lett. 9 Aug. (1840) 58 There must be some great defect in his mind, or he would try to make himself a little more sufferable. a 1843 Southey Common-pl. Bk. (1849) Ser. ii. 248 His funereal elegies are..not quite worthless; that to Antonio Ferreira on his wife's death is sufferable. 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. i, During the time, the suffering is at least sufferable. 1872 Howells Wedd. Journ. (1892) 69 It was something..that made the air so much more sufferable than it had been. |
† 3. That may be allowed, permissible. Obs.
| a 1395 Hylton Scala Pref. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xxxii, This maner syghte is sufferable to symple soules that can noo better. 1480 Cov. Leet Bk. 472 That comen-wele is nott sufferable by the kynges lawes. a 1571 Jewel On 1 Thess. (1611) 84 And how is that sufferable by any Law, that by so many Lawes is condemned? 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest i. (1615) 20 It is not..sufferable for any other person, to hunt or hauke after any of those wilde beastes. 1653 A. Wilson Jas. I, 20 For the Clericks..they are no way sufferable to remain in this Kingdom. |
† 4. a. Capable of suffering, passible. Obs.
| c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. vii. 52 For withouten dowte he hadde verray flesche and kyndely sufferable as haue othere children. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (Roxb. Club) 36 Of þe experience of his suffrable nature he scheude to vs þat he was bothe verray god & man. |
† b. Attended with suffering. Obs.
| 1548 Geste Agst. Priv. Masse D j b, Christes sufferable and bloudy sacrifice. |
† c. That may suffer injury or loss. Obs.
| 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 312 In the conferring of this (he saith) baptismall Regeneration is defined. But yet this is sufferable and loseable. |
† 5. Logic. Producing an effect on the senses.
Cf. Burgersdicius' Logic i. vi. (1697) 17 Patible Quality, in Greek ποιότης παθητική.
| 1654 Z. Coke Logick 32 Quality hath four kinds or specials. 1. Habit. 2. Natural power. 3. Sufferable quality. 4. Figure. |