Suffering
/ˈsʌfərɪŋ/noun
The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.
Did you know?English suffering comes from a Latin root meaning “to bear, carry, or endure underneath,” so the word originally framed pain as something you are forced to carry.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bher-
“to carry, bear”
Latin
Latin
subferre
“to bear up under, endure; literally “carry from beneath””
Late Latin
Latin
sufferre
“to endure, tolerate, undergo”
Old French
Old French
sofrir
“to endure, permit, tolerate”
Middle English
English
suffren
“to endure, allow, undergo”
Modern English
English
suffering
“the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship”