What does tolerator mean?
Tolerator is a rare noun meaning a person who tolerates: someone who accepts or allows a practice, condition, or person without hostility or active opposition. The word is especially associated with someone who makes room for disagreement, unwelcome customs, or people whose views differ from their own. It can describe private disposition, as when someone is called a patient tolerator of an eccentric colleague's habits, or institutional policy, as in a ruler portrayed as a tolerator of religious diversity. Although dictionaries often define it simply as “one who tolerates,” the noun tends to sound more formal and historical than the common adjective “tolerant” or the more neutral phrase “one who accepts.” Its connotation is generally one of endurance or forbearance rather than wholehearted approval. The word survives chiefly in formal prose, historical accounts, and occasional literary description; in ordinary conversation, calling someone a “tolerator” may sound unusual or deliberately emphasizing their readiness to accommodate difference.
nounA person who tolerates; especially, one who accepts or allows a practice, condition, or person without hostility or protest.
- A person who tolerates something, especially an unwelcome practice, condition, or person.
"He proved a patient tolerator of the team's unconventional methods."
"The mediator was respected as a generous tolerator of disagreement."
"Historians sometimes portray the emperor as a pragmatic tolerator of religious diversity."
The regular plural is “tolerators.” In agentive phrases, it commonly appears with “of,” as in “tolerators of religious diversity.”
"The writings of the period portray them as tolerators of minority faiths."
In Latin, tolerator literally meant “one who endures”—a fitting ancestor for a word describing someone willing to make room for disagreement.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tolerator come from?
The English word comes from Latin tolerator, an agent noun meaning “one who endures or tolerates,” formed from tolerare, “to bear, endure, or tolerate.” Latin tolerare is related to tollere, “to bear, carry, or sustain.” English cognate derivatives include tolerate, tolerance, and tolerant, all reflecting the same Latin root and its development.
Related word forms
How tolerator is actually used
Rare and more characteristic of formal, literary, or historical prose than everyday speech. It usually denotes a person or an agent, often with the construction “tolerator of” something. Modern speakers generally prefer “tolerant person,” “one who tolerates,” or “someone who accepts.”