Suffering

How to spell suffering

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce suffering

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does suffering mean?

1. nounThe state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.
2. adjectiveExperiencing pain, distress, or hardship.

Suffering in a sentence

• noun

  The charity works to ease the suffering of refugees in the camps.

• adjective

  The clinic offered free care to suffering families who could not afford treatment.

• noun

  Modern medicine has reduced the suffering caused by many chronic illnesses.

• adjective

  Volunteers brought blankets and food to the suffering villagers after the flood.

Where does suffering come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb sufferre, meaning 'to undergo' or 'to endure', which was built from sub-, meaning 'under', and ferre, meaning 'to carry' or 'to bear'; the literal sense was therefore 'to bear up under' a burden. It passed into Middle English through Old French sofrir and suffrir during the 1200s, keeping the idea of patiently enduring hardship or pain. The same ferre root that means 'to carry' also underlies a surprising family of English words, including 'transfer', 'refer', and 'offer', all of which involve carrying something somewhere. The noun 'suffering', formed by adding the -ing ending to the verb, named the experience of enduring pain or distress. The doubled f is a remnant of the assimilation of the Latin prefix sub- before the f of ferre, and remembering that sub- collapsed into suf- helps explain why the spelling carries two f's.

How the word is built

• suf- (assimilated form of sub-: under)
• fer (from ferre: to carry, to bear)
• -ing (noun/participle suffix)