endure

[en-doo r, -dyoo r] /ɛnˈdʊər, -ˈdyʊər/
verb (used with object), endured, enduring.
1.
to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo:
to endure great financial pressures with equanimity.
2.
to bear without resistance or with patience; tolerate:
I cannot endure your insults any longer.
3.
to admit of; allow; bear:
His poetry is such that it will not endure a superficial reading.
verb (used without object), endured, enduring.
4.
to continue to exist; last:
These words will endure as long as people live who love freedom.
5.
to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently:
Even in the darkest ages humanity has endured.
6.
to have or gain continued or lasting acknowledgment or recognition, as of worth, merit or greatness:
His plays have endured for more than three centuries.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English enduren < Anglo-French, Old French endurer < Latin indūrāre to harden, make lasting, equivalent to in- in-2 + dūrāre to last, be or become hard, derivative of dūrus hard
Related forms
endurer, noun
unendured, adjective
Synonyms
2. stand, support, suffer, brook. See bear1 . 4. abide. See continue.
Antonyms
4. fail, die.
Examples from the web for endure
  • These bacterial endospores often endure many years of hardship before they find the growth conditions necessary for germination.
  • The official definition of sustainability is the capacity to endure.
  • You must endure the unfairness.
  • It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.
  • We'll endure whatever hazing necessary to get there.
  • Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be beneficial.
  • Ask your students about their working lives — you'll be shocked at what they endure.
  • He who endures with patience is a conqueror.
  • These humps give camels their legendary ability to endure long periods of travel without water, even in harsh desert conditions.
  • Pliable skin served as a defense mechanism, allowing the dog to endure sharp-toothed bites without significant damage.
British Dictionary definitions for endure

endure

/ɪnˈdjʊə/
verb
1.
to undergo (hardship, strain, privation, etc) without yielding; bear
2.
(transitive) to permit or tolerate
3.
(intransitive) to last or continue to exist
Derived Forms
endurable, adjective
endurability, endurableness, noun
endurably, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Old French endurer, from Latin indūrāre to harden, from dūrus hard
Word Origin and History for endure
v.

early 14c., "to undergo or suffer" (especially without breaking); late 14c. "to continue in existence," from Old French endurer (12c.) "make hard, harden; bear, tolerate; keep up, maintain," from Latin indurare "make hard," in Late Latin "harden (the heart) against," from in- (see in- (2)) + durare "to harden," from durus "hard," from PIE *deru- "be firm, solid."

Replaced the important Old English verb dreogan (past tense dreag, past participle drogen), which survives in dialectal dree. Related: Endured; endures.