comfort
Appearance
See also: Comfort
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkʌm.fət/
- (Northern England) IPA(key): /ˈkʊm.fət/
- (General American) enPR: kŭm'fərt, IPA(key): /ˈkʌm.fɚt/, [ˈkʰʌɱ.fɚt]
- (obsolete) enPR: kŭmfôrt', IPA(key): /kʌmˈfɔɹt/
Audio (US): (file)
Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English comfort, from Old French cunfort, confort, from the stem of Late Latin confortō. It replaced Old English frofor, Middle English frovre.
Noun
[edit]comfort (countable and uncountable, plural comforts)
- Contentment, ease.
- Antonym: austerity
- Sleep in comfort with our new mattress.
- 1684, chapter III, in Bucaniers of America: Or, A True Account of the Moſt Remarkable Aſſaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coaſts of the West-Indies, by Bucaniers of Jamica and Tortuga, Both English and French; Wherein are Contained More Eſpecially, the Unparallel'd Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, Our Engliſh Jamaican Hero, who ſack'd Puerto Velo, Burnt Panama. &c [Part II][1], volume 1, London: Printed for William Crooke, translation of De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, […] by John Eſquemeling, page 30:
- But all was in vain: For having ranged up and down the Woods for ſome days, without finding the leaſt comfort to their hungry deſires, they were forced to return again unto the River. […] At laſt they arrived at the Coaſt of the Sea, where they found ſome comfort and relief to their former miſeries, and alſo means to ſeek more.
- 1850, T. S. Arthur, “A Rise in the Butter Market”, in Sketches of Life and Character[2], Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 59:
- How often is the comfort of a whole family abridged by some trifling circumstance, that ought not to have made a visible impression!
- 1937 September 21, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “An Unexpected Party”, in The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published February 1966 (August 1967 printing), →OCLC, page 15:
- In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
- Something that offers comfort.
- the comforts of home
- A consolation; something relieving suffering or worry.
- Synonyms: liss, solace; see also Thesaurus:consolation
- We still have the spare tire? That's a comfort at least.
- A cause of relief or satisfaction.
- The outcome of the peace negotiations in Moscow in 1940 was a heavy blow to the young nation, but in the same time a great comfort: at least the independency was preserved.
Derived terms
[edit]- cold comfort
- comfortability
- comfortable
- comfortative
- comfort break
- comfort-eat
- comfort eating
- comfort fic
- comfortfic
- comfort food
- comfortful
- comfort girl
- comfortize
- comfortless
- comfort letter
- comfortment
- comfort noise
- comfort room
- comfortsome
- comfort station
- comfort stop
- comfort tone
- comfortwear
- comfort woman
- comfort zone
- creature comfort
- discomfort
- Dutch comfort
- Job's comfort
- Lawson comfort criterion
- letter of comfort
- lip comfort
- miscomfort
- too close for comfort
- uncomfort
Translations
[edit]contentment, ease
|
consolation
|
cause of relief or satisfaction
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Etymology 2
[edit]From Middle English comforten, from Old French conforter, from Late Latin confortō (“to strengthen greatly”), itself from Latin con- (“together”) + fortis (“strong”).
Verb
[edit]comfort (third-person singular simple present comforts, present participle comforting, simple past and past participle comforted)
- (transitive) To relieve the distress or suffering of; to provide comfort to.
- Synonyms: besoothe, console; see also Thesaurus:comfort
- Rob comforted Aaron because he was lost and very sad.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 86:17:
- Shew me a token foꝛ good, that they which hate me may ſee it, and bee aſhamed: becauſe thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comfoꝛted me.
- 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
- Light, above all things, excelleth in comforting the spirits of men.
- (obsolete) To make strong; to invigorate; to fortify; to corroborate.
- 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- God's own testimony […] doth not a little comfort and confirm the same.
- (obsolete) To assist or help; to aid.
- 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 IV, scene iii]:
- I […] cannot help the noble chevalier: / God comfort him in this necessity!
Derived terms
[edit]- comforter
- comforting (adjective, noun)
- uncomfort
Translations
[edit]to provide comfort to — see also console
|
Dutch
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle Dutch confoort, from Old French confort.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Netherlands) IPA(key): /kɔmˈfɔːr/
- (Belgium) IPA(key): /kɔmˈfɔr(t)/
Audio: (file) - Hyphenation: com‧fort
Noun
[edit]comfort n (plural comforts, diminutive comfortje n)
Derived terms
[edit]Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Old French cunfort, confort.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]comfort (plural comforts)
Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “cǒmfort, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from Latin
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- Dutch terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Dutch terms derived from Old French
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio pronunciation
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch neuter nouns
- Middle English terms borrowed from Old French
- Middle English terms derived from Old French
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns