What does patience mean?
Patience is the capacity to wait or endure difficulty, delay, or provocation without losing calm, anger, or resolve. In ordinary use it is an abstract and usually uncountable noun, so one speaks of having patience, showing patience, or exercising patience. It often carries a mildly approving connotation: patience is portrayed as a virtue and as a means of controlling impulsive reactions. The word can also mean a type of solitaire card game, chiefly associated with British English. Although that game sense has a regular plural, “patience” in its principal sense generally has no ordinary plural. Alongside the familiar abstract noun, “patient” and “patiently” are related forms, but they are distinct words with their own grammatical roles. In dictionaries, “patience” therefore ranges from a description of a person’s character to a name for a card game, while remaining a precise and useful way to discuss endurance, restraint, and the ability to wait.
nounPatience is the ability to endure delay, difficulty, or provocation without becoming agitated, angry, or resentful. It also conveys the calm and restraint needed to wait for an outcome.
- The ability to endure delay, difficulty, or provocation calmly and without becoming resentful.
- A type of solitaire card game, chiefly associated with British English.
"She showed remarkable patience while waiting for the delayed results."
"Learning a new language requires patience as well as regular practice."
"The club hosts an evening of traditional card patiences for beginners and experienced players alike."
In the card-game sense, patiences is the regular plural. For the usual abstract sense of patience, the noun is normally uncountable.
"Several traditional patiences were laid out on the tables."
Patience comes from Latin patientia, meaning endurance or suffering—an unexpectedly serious origin for a familiar everyday virtue.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does patience come from?
The word entered Middle English through Old French patience, a borrowing of Latin patientia, meaning endurance or suffering. Latin patientia was derived from patiens, the present participle of pati, “to suffer” or “endure.” The same Latin source underlies related English forms such as patient and patiently.
Related word forms
How patience is actually used
Patience is generally neutral to approving and often suggests a virtue or a deliberate capacity for restraint. In its main sense it is normally uncountable; the plural is chiefly associated with the card-game sense.
Easily confused with patience
Patience means the capacity to endure waiting or difficulty, whereas patients are people receiving medical care.