What does dured mean?
'Dured' is the archaic past tense of 'dure,' a now-obsolete English verb meaning to last, endure, or continue. In Middle English and surviving into some early modern writing, one could say that a building dured through storms or that a friendship dured across distance — meanings today carried almost entirely by 'endured' and 'lasted.' The word descends from the Old French 'durer' (to last), from Latin 'durare,' rooted in 'durus' (hard), the same root behind 'durable,' 'during,' and 'obdurate.' Though no longer part of ordinary vocabulary, 'dured' survives in historical texts and can lend an antique flavor to poetry or pastiche. For contemporary readers it is chiefly of interest as a linguistic fossil: evidence of how English once expressed endurance with a shorter, sturdier word.
verb (archaic — past tense of 'dure')'Dured' is the archaic past tense of the verb 'dure,' meaning to last, endure, or continue in existence. It appears chiefly in Middle English and early modern literary texts.
- (Archaic) Past tense of 'dure': to have lasted or continued in existence; to have endured.
"The ancient stone bridge dured through centuries of floods and wars."
"The fortress dured for three hundred years before it finally fell."
"In Chaucer's day, a kingdom's peace might be said to have dured but briefly."
Before 'endured' took over English, a single syllable did the same job: things that lasted simply 'dured.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dured
'Dure' entered English from Old French 'durer' ('to last, endure'), itself from Latin 'durare,' derived from 'durus,' meaning 'hard.' The same Latin root gives us 'durable,' 'during,' 'endure,' and 'obdurate.' As 'endure' (from the same French source with the prefix en-) became dominant from the late Middle Ages, 'dure' and its forms like 'dured' gradually fell out of everyday speech, persisting longest in literary and dialectal contexts.
Related word forms
How dured is actually used
'Dured' is obsolete in modern usage and will be recognized mainly by readers of Middle and Early Modern English literature. Modern writers should use 'endured' or 'lasted' instead.
Easily confused with dured
'Endured' is the modern, standard verb meaning to withstand or last, while 'dured' is its archaic, largely obsolete counterpart.