tolerance
English · Thesaurus
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tolerance
- /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/ UK
- /ˈtɑ.lə.ɹəns/ US, dialectal
- /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/ Canada, dialectal
- /ˈtɔl.ə.ɹəns/ Australia
- /ˈtɒl.ə.ɹəns/ New Zealand
- [ˈtɔ̟l.ə.ɹəns] New Zealand
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English toleraunce, borrowed from Old French tolerance, from Latin tolerantia (“endurance”), from tolerāns, present participle of, and participial adjective from Latin tolerō (“to endure”).
noun tolerances
- The ability to endure pain or hardship; endurance.
-
The ability or practice of tolerating; an acceptance of or patience with the beliefs, opinions or practices of others; a lack of bigotry.
Near-synonym: forbearance
Similar: toleration, forbearance
- The ability of the body (or other organism) to resist the action of a poison, to cope with a dangerous drug or to survive infection by an organism.
- Resistance to drunkenness. Since he hadn't had any alcohol in years, his tolerance was very low, and it only took two drinks for him to get sloshed.
- The variation or deviation from a standard, especially the maximum permitted variation in an engineering measurement. Our customers can generally accept ten times the tolerance which we can achieve in our machining operations.
- The ability of the body to accept a tissue graft without rejection.
Opposite: intolerance
verb tolerances · tolerancing · toleranced
- To design or engineer a material to a specified tolerance.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: permissiveness, allowance, margin, leeway, toleration, sufferance, endurance, patient, patience, resiliency, forbearance, tolerable, tolerated, resistance, tolerate, acquiescence
noun
Opposite: intolerance
Translations
Every language
noun ability to endure pain or hardship — see also endurance
| Español | tolerancia |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Toleranz |
| Italiano | tolleranza |
| Ελληνικά | ανοχή anochí |
| Română | rezistență, toleranță |
| Русский | терпе́ние terpénije |
| العربية | تَحَمُّل taḥammul |
noun ability or practice of tolerating
| Español | tolerancia |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 寛容 kan'yō |
| 中文 | 寬容 /宽容 kuānróng |
| Português | tolerância |
| Français | tolérance |
| Deutsch | Toleranz |
| Italiano | tolleranza |
| Ελληνικά | ανοχή anochí, ανεκτικότητα anektikótita |
| Română | toleranță |
| Русский | терпи́мость terpímostʹ, толера́нтность tolerántnostʹ, толера́стия tolerástija |
| العربية | تَسَامُح tasāmuḥ |
| עברית | סובלנות |
Talk about this word "tolerance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tolerance. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tolerance. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tolerance "tolerance." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tolerance.Cite this
@misc{tolerance_2026,
title = {tolerance},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tolerance},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
