Dictionary / patience
patience
- noun
- from Old French
The quality of being patient.
1 All current definitions
Every sense of “patience” in current use, as recorded by Wiktionary. Older and obsolete senses are kept separately.
noun
- uncountableusuallyThe quality of being patient.
Musical perfection requires practice and a lot of patience.
- UKuncountableusuallyAny of various card games that can be played by one person.
Cross-check: WordNet senses (2)
- noungood-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence — also: forbearance, longanimity
- nouna card game played by one person — also: solitaire
2 History of the word
The etymology, the path the word travelled, and the words built from it.
The word’s journey, newest to oldest:
- English (today)patience
- Middle Englishpacience
- Old Frenchpacience (modern French patience)
- Latinpatientia “suffering; endurance, patience”
- Latinpatiens
- Proto-Indo-European*peh₁- “to hurt”
Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”). Displaced Old English ġeþyld.
Derivatives — words built from “patience”
Phrases & compounds
Related terms
Want to go deeper? See also “patience” on Etymonline ↗
3 Original language
Where “patience” came from before it was English.
4 Original meaning
What the word meant at the oldest point the record reaches.
Historical meaning — Webster’s 1913
A historical record, labelled as such: some of these senses are dated or have since shifted.
patience n. [F. patience, fr. L. patientia. See Patient.]
- The state or quality of being patient; the power of suffering with fortitude; uncomplaining endurance of evils or wrongs, as toil, pain, poverty, insult, oppression, calamity, etc.
- The act or power of calmly or contentedly waiting for something due or hoped for; forbearance.
- Constancy in labor or application; perseverance.
- Sufferance; permission.
5 Use it with confidence
Model sentences from the sources, matched to the meaning they show. Read each one aloud, then make your own in the game.
nounMeaning: The quality of being patient.
Musical perfection requires practice and a lot of patience.
I appreciate the patience with which you've explained it.
Three steps to owning it
- Pick one meaning above and read its model sentence out loud.
- Say who or what the word is about in your own life, then build a sentence around that.
- Check it against the definition: would a careful reader understand exactly that meaning?
6 The mastery game
Play it here, or print it and do it with pen and paper. At the end you will know the meanings, history, origin and original meaning — and you will have used the word yourself.
Say it, then spell it
patience
/ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ · pa·tience
Say the word out loud three times, slowly. Notice the stressed syllable. When you are ready, hide it and spell it from memory.
Activate Words · Word-mastery worksheet · Name: ______________________ Date: __________
patience
/ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ · pa·tience · noun
Step 1 — Say it and write it
Say “patience” out loud three times. Then cover the word and write it three times from memory.
Step 2 — Know every meaning
Read each definition. Then write it again in your own words.
Step 3 — History and origin
Write the word’s journey back in time (each language and form):
Write three words built from “patience” and what each means:
Step 4 — Original meaning
The earliest traceable form is Proto-Indo-European *peh₁-. What did it mean?
How does that original meaning connect to the meanings today?
Step 5 — Use it yourself
☐ I can explain its meanings ☐ I know its history ☐ I know its original language ☐ I know its original meaning ☐ I can use it confidently
Answer key — patience
Origin: D. Old French (Old French pacience)
Journey: English patience ← Middle English pacience ← Old French pacience ← Latin patientia ← Latin patiens ← Proto-Indo-European *peh₁-
Some derivatives: unpatience
Original meaning: Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- — “to hurt”
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”). Displaced Old English ġeþyld.
Sources: Wiktionary “patience” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/patience#English), CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org; Princeton WordNet 3.0; Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913, public domain) via GCIDE. Worksheet from https://activatewords.com/w/patience