toleration

English

Etymology

From Middle French toleration, from Latin tolerātiōnem, accusative singular of tolerātiō, from the verb tolerō (“I tolerate”). Compare tolerance.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɒləˈɹeɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

toleration (countable and uncountable, plural tolerations)

1. (obsolete) Endurance of evil, suffering etc.
2. The allowance of something not explicitly approved; tolerance, forbearance.
3. Specifically, the allowance by a government (or other ruling power) of the exercise of religion beyond the state established faith.
   • 2012, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, The Origins of Sex, Penguin, published 2013, page 86:

     Above all, the establishment of toleration helped to weaken the presumption that plurality in matters of faith inevitably caused social disorder.

Derived terms

• religious toleration

 

Further reading

• Toleration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Toleration in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)