# patience

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpeɪ̯.ʃəns/ · frequency rank #5,150

## Definitions
1. The quality of being patient.
2. Any of various card games that can be played by one person.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English pacience, from Old French pacience (modern French patience), from Latin patientia (“suffering; endurance, patience”), from patiens, present active participle of patior (“suffer, experience, wait”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hurt”). Displaced Old English ġeþyld.

## Easily confused with
- **patient** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/patience-vs-patient)

## Common misspellings (12)
`aptience`, `paitence`, `pateince`, `patiance`, `patiecne`, `patiencce`, `patienec`, `patiennce`, `patinece`, `pattience`, `ppatience`, `ptaience`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/patience