Emily Dickinson Lexicon

patient (-est), adj. [OFr passient < L. patī, to suffer.] (webplay: bears, Christian, discontent, divine, expected, life, long, mind, morning, pain, pass, suffer, thought, will).

1. Painful; difficult; demanding fortitude; requiring endurance.
2. Enduring; uncomplaining; self-denying; expectant; calm.
3. Ill; invalid; diseased [fig.] passively afflicted.