Suf"fer*ance (?), n. [OE.
suffrance, OF. sufrance, soufrance, F.
souffrance, L. sufferentia, from sufferens, -
entis, p. pr. of sufferre. See Suffer.]
1. The state of suffering; the bearing of pain;
endurance.
He must not only die the death,
But thy unkindness shall his death draw out
To lingering sufferance.
Shak.
2. Pain endured; misery; suffering;
distress.
The seeming sufferances that you had
borne.
Shak.
3. Loss; damage; injury. [Obs.]
A grievous . . . sufferance on most part of
their fleet.
Shak.
4. Submission under difficult or oppressive
circumstances; patience; moderation. Chaucer.
But hasty heat tempering with sufferance
wise.
Spenser.
5. Negative consent by not forbidding or
hindering; toleration; permission; allowance; leave.
Shak.
In their beginning they are weak and wan,
But soon, through sufferance, grow to fearful end.
Spenser.
Somewhiles by sufferance, and somewhiles by
special leave and favor, they erected to themselves
oratories.
Hooker.
6. A permission granted by the customs
authorities for the shipment of goods. [Eng.]
Estate of sufferance (Law), the
holding by a tenant who came in by a lawful title, but remains, after
his right has expired, without positive leave of the owner.
Blackstone. -- On sufferance, by mere
toleration; as, to remain in a house on sufferance.
Syn. -- Endurance; pain; misery; inconvenience; patience;
moderation; toleration; permission.