forbearance

plural forbearances

1. uncountableThe action of forbearing (“abstaining or refraining from doing something”); (countable) an instance of this.

   Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance: / The truth appeares ſo naked on my ſide, / That any purblind eye may find it out.

   1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 103, column 2

   4 more examples

   Then true nobleſſe vvould / Learne him forbearance from ſo foule a vvrong, / VVhat ſubject can giue ſentence on his King: […]

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], signature H, verso

   […] Death denounc't that day, / VVhich he preſumes already vain and void, / Becauſe not yet inflicted, as he fear'd, / By ſome immediate ſtroak; but ſoon ſhall find / Forbearance no acquittance ere day end.

   1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature Kk, verso, lines 49–53

   Polyphilus […] at the univerſity vvas diſtinguiſhed equally for his ſucceſsful progress, […] vvithout any ſtrict confinement to hours of ſtudy, or remarkable forbearance of the common amuſements of young men.

   1750 June 1 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 19. Monday, May 22. 1750.”, in The Rambler, 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1751, →OCLC, page 150

   Yet apprehenſive that his forbearance to obey, vvould be more alarming, he repeated in a faltering and lovv voice the follovving lines: […]

   1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter IV, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC, page 133

   Antonyms: unforbearance

   1. uncountableThe action of refraining from enforcing something which is due (such as a debt or obligation) or a right which one has; (countable) an instance of this.

      It is neceſſary that there ſhould be a ſtated Rate of Intereſt, that in Debts and Forbearances, vvhere Contract has not ſetled it betvveen the Parties, the Lavv might give a Rule, and Courts of Judicature might knovv vvhat Damages to allovv: […]

      1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC, page 101

      Antonyms: unforbearance

   2. uncountableRestraint and tolerance under provocation; patient self-control; indulgence, lenity.

      If I have little, others have leſſe; If I feele paine, ſome others, torture: If their ſufferings be juſt, my forbearances are mercifull; my proviſions, to theirs liberall: […]

      1645, Jos[eph] Hall, “Sect[ion] IX. Consideration of the Worse Condition of Others.”, in The Remedy of Discontentment: Or, A Treatise of Contentation in whatsoever Condition: […], London: […] J. G. for Nath[aniel] Brooks, […], published 1652, →OCLC, page 43

      3 more examples

      "Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"

      1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave I. Marley’s Ghost.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 33

      Though I would give no information, he discovered, through some of the other servants, both her place of residence, and the existence of the child. Still he didn’t molest her; for which forbearance she might thank his aversion, I suppose.

      1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter III, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume II, London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC, pages 63–64

      I would have been nine or ten when my mother chased me up a thorn tree with a ceremonial hippo-hide whip. What my crime was, I forget. My mother was, and remains, a woman of exceptional forbearance. I must have done something so obnoxious as to beggar belief.

      2003, David Bennun, “After the Earthquake”, in Tick Bite Fever, London: Ebury Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 87

      Synonyms: patience · Antonyms: unforbearance