suffice

English

WOTD – 16 October 2008

Etymology

From Middle English suffisen, from Middle French souffire, from Latin sufficiō (“supply, be adequate”), from sub (“under”) + faciō (“do, make”). Cognate with French suffire.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /səˈfaɪs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪs

Verb

suffice (third-person singular simple present suffices, present participle sufficing, simple past and past participle sufficed)

1. (intransitive) To be enough or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be adequate; to be good enough.

   For this plum cake, two eggs should suffice.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     To recount almighty works, / What words or tongue of seraph can suffice?

2. (transitive) To satisfy; to content; to be equal to the wants or demands of.

   A joint of lamb sufficed even his enormous appetite.

   • 1838, The Church of England quarterly review (page 203)

     Lord Brougham's salary would have sufficed more than ninety Prussian judges.

3. To furnish; to supply adequately.

Usage notes

• Commonly used in the phrase suffice it to say.
• Mostly used in modal verb constructions, such as: Half a loaf per day will suffice. This is much more common than the direct form Half a loaf per day suffices.

Synonyms

• (be enough) work, do

Related terms

• satisfice
• sufficient

Translations

be enough, sufficient, adequate

• Arabic: كَفَى‎ (kafā)
• Armenian: բավականացնել (hy) (bavakanacʿnel), հերիքել (hy) (herikʿel), բավարարել (hy) (bavararel)
• Assamese: কুলা (kula)
• Belarusian: хапа́ць impf (xapácʹ), хапі́ць pf (xapícʹ)
• Bulgarian: стигам (bg) (stigam)
• Burmese: တော် (my) (tau), လောက် (my) (lauk)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 足夠 (zh), 足够 (zh) (zúgòu), 夠 (zh), 够 (zh) (gòu), 使滿足, 使满足 (shǐ mǎnzú)

• Czech: stačit (cs) impf, pf
• Danish: holde (da)
• Dutch: genoeg zijn, volstaan (nl), voldoen (nl), toereiken (nl)
• Esperanto: sufiĉi
• Finnish: riittää (fi), kelvata (fi), menetellä (fi), piisata (fi)
• French: suffire (fr)
• Georgian: ყოფნა (ka) (q̇opna), კმარა (ka) (ḳmara)
• German: ausreichen (de), genügen (de), genug sein
• Greek: φτάνω (el) (ftáno), αρκώ (el) (arkó)
• Hindi: काफ़ी होना (kāfī honā), पूरा पड़ना (pūrā paṛnā)
• Interlingua: bastar, sufficer
• Japanese: 足りる (ja) (たりる, tariru), 足る (ja) (たる, taru)

• Korean: 충분하다 (ko) (chungbunhada)
• Ladino:

  Latin: abastar

• Norwegian: rekke (no)

  Bokmål: holde (no)

  Nynorsk: halde

• Persian: کفایت کردن‎ (fa) (kefâyat kardan)
• Polish: wystarczać (pl) impf, wystarczyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ser (pt) suficiente, atender (pt), satisfazer (pt), bastar (pt), chegar (pt)
• Quechua: aypay
• Romanian: ajunge (ro)
• Russian: хвата́ть (ru) impf (xvatátʹ), хвати́ть (ru) pf (xvatítʹ), быть доста́точным impf (bytʹ dostátočnym)
• Scottish Gaelic: foghain
• Serbo-Croatian: dostati, dostajati (sh), достати (Cyrl)
• Slovak: stačiť impf, pf
• Spanish: bastar (es)
• Swahili: -tosha
• Swedish: räcka (sv), förslå (sv)
• Ukrainian: вистача́ти impf (vystačáty), ви́стачити pf (výstačyty), става́ти impf (staváty), ста́ти pf (státy), вистава́ти impf (vystaváty), ви́стати pf (výstaty)

satisfy

• Armenian: բավարարել (hy) (bavararel)
• Dutch: voldoen (nl) (aan (nl))
• Finnish: tyydyttää (fi), riittää (fi)
• German: zufriedenstellen (de), befriedigen (de)

• Polish: zadowolić (pl), wystarczać (pl), wystarczyć (pl)
• Portuguese: satisfazer (pt)
• Russian: удовлетворя́ть (ru) impf (udovletvorjátʹ), удовлетвори́ть (ru) pf (udovletvorítʹ)

furnish

• Dutch: voorzien (nl) (van (nl))
• Finnish: riittää (fi)

• German: ausstatten (de)
• Portuguese: suplementar (pt)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} suffire 2, ^{(please verify)} 3 (fr)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} duga

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} alcanzar (es)

Further reading

• suffice in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• suffice in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• suffice at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Cuffies, cuffies

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈsuf.fi.ke/, [ˈsʊf.fɪ.kɛ]

Verb

suffice

1. second-person singular present active imperative of sufficiō