tolerate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tolerātus, the perfect passive participle of tolerō (“to endure”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with Old English þolian (“to tolerate, suffer, bear”) and French tolérer. More at thole.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹeɪt/

  • Audio (Berkshire, Standard Southern British); [ˈtɔl.ə.ɹeɪt]:

    (file)

• (General American, Atlantic Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑ.lə.ɹeɪt/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (Canada, Boston, Maine) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹeɪt/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈtɔl.ə.ɹæɪt/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈtɔ̟l.ə.ɹæɪt]

Verb

tolerate (third-person singular simple present tolerates, present participle tolerating, simple past and past participle tolerated)

1. (transitive) To allow or permit without explicit approval, usually if it is perceived as negative.

   Synonyms: allow; see also Thesaurus:tolerate

   The party tolerated corruption within its ranks.

2. (transitive) To bear, withstand.

   Synonyms: take, endure, withstand, bear, live with, put up with, (chiefly in the negative) stand

   I can tolerate working on Saturday, but not Sunday.

   The elevator can tolerate up to 360 kilograms.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing).
• In sense 1, this verb almost always carries a negative connotation. This is in contrast with related tolerance and tolerant, which are usually perceived as positive characteristics.

Synonyms

• countenance
• have

Derived terms

• toleratable
• tolerative
• tolerator

Related terms

• tolerability
• tolerable
• tolerance
• tolerant
• toleration

Translations

To allow without explicit approval

• Arabic: اِحْتَمَلَ (iḥtamala)

  Egyptian Arabic: احتمل (iḥtamal)

• Armenian: հանդուրժել (hy) (handuržel)
• Bulgarian: толерирам (bg) (toleriram), търпя (bg) (tărpja)
• Catalan: tolerar (ca), suportar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 忍受 (jan² sau⁶), 捱 (ngaai⁴)

  Mandarin: 忍受 (zh) (rěnshòu), 熬 (zh) (áo)

• Czech: tolerovat (cs)
• Dutch: verdragen (nl), tolereren (nl), toelaten (nl), dulden (nl), gedogen (nl)
• Finnish: suvaita (fi), sietää (fi)
• French: tolérer (fr), supporter (fr), souffrir (fr)
• Galician: tolerar (gl)
• Georgian: თმენა (tmena), დაშვება (dašveba)
• German: tolerieren (de), dulden (de), vertragen (de)
• Greek: ανέχομαι (el) (anéchomai)
• Haitian Creole: sipòte
• Hebrew: סָבַל (he) (savál)
• Hindi: सहना (hi) (sahnā)
• Ido: tolerar (io)
• Ingrian: siitää
• Irish: cuir suas le
• Italian: tollerare (it), sopportare (it), accettare (it)
• Japanese: 黙認する (ja) (もくにんする, mokunin-surú)
• Korean: 참는다 (chamneunda)
• Latin: tolerō
• Luxembourgish: dëllen
• Macedonian: трпи (trpi), поднесува (podnesuva), толерира (tolerira)
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: tolerere, tåle (no)
• Occitan: tolerar (oc), suportar (oc)
• Old English: ābīdan
• Persian: تاویدن (fa) (tāvidan), تاوستن (fa) (tāvestan)
• Polish: tolerować (pl)
• Portuguese: tolerar (pt), aguentar (pt), suportar (pt)
• Romanian: tolera (ro), suporta (ro), îngădui (ro)
• Russian: терпе́ть (ru) impf (terpétʹ), вы́терпеть (ru) pf (výterpetʹ), допуска́ть (ru) impf (dopuskátʹ), допусти́ть (ru) pf (dopustítʹ), толери́ровать (ru) impf (tolerírovatʹ)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: tolerěrowaś impf

• Spanish: tolerar (es), soportar (es), aguantar (es)
• Swedish: tolerera (sv)
• Tamil: தாங்கு (ta) (tāṅku), சகி (ta) (caki), பொறு (ta) (poṟu)
• Telugu: సహించు (te) (sahiñcu)
• Ukrainian: допуска́ти impf (dopuskáty), допусти́ти pf (dopustýty), толерува́ти impf (toleruváty)
• Vietnamese: chịu đựng (vi)
• Yiddish: טאָלערירן (tolerirn)

to bear, withstand — see also bear,‎ put up with,‎ stand

• Greek: ανέχομαι (el) (anéchomai)
• Mauritian Creole: tolere
• Russian: терпе́ть (ru) impf (terpétʹ), потерпе́ть (ru) (poterpétʹ), вы́терпеть (ru) pf (výterpetʹ), сноси́ть (ru) impf (snosítʹ), снести́ (ru) pf (snestí), толери́ровать (ru) impf (tolerírovatʹ)
• Ukrainian: терпі́ти impf (terpíty), потерпі́ти pf (poterpíty), зно́сити impf (znósyty), знести́ pf (znestý), толерува́ти impf (toleruváty)
• Yiddish: טאָלערירן (tolerirn)

Further reading

• “tolerate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “tolerate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “tolerate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Esperanto

Adverb

tolerate

1. present adverbial passive participle of toleri

Latin

Verb

tolerāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of tolerō  "bear ye, endure ye, tolerate ye"

Participle

tolerāte

1. vocative masculine singular of tolerātus

Spanish

Verb

tolerate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of tolerar combined with te