enduring

1. 1
   adjective

   Lasting a long time without much change, continuing in the same state through the years.

   The treaty established an enduring peace between the two neighboring nations.

   His enduring influence on modern painting is still felt in galleries today.

   Similarlasting, abiding, durable, permanent, long-lasting

   Oppositefleeting, temporary, transient, ephemeral

   Note

   The adjective has outgrown its verb, and comparison proves it: a more enduring peace, the most enduring belief. It describes what lasts rather than what puts up with something, so it never takes an object. An enduring belief in democracy is one that persists, not one that suffers. It sits most naturally with abstract nouns for ties and ideas, such as peace, belief and influence.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of endure.

   The crew was enduring brutal storms far out at sea.

   Enduring years of hardship, the family never lost hope.

   Note

   The participle carries both sides of endure. With an object it means bearing something unpleasant, as in enduring brutal storms. Without one it means persisting or lasting, as in a hope enduring through hardship. That intransitive "last" meaning is the one the long-lasting adjective grew from. As a gerund it heads a noun phrase with its object intact: enduring the cold was the worst part.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The capacity to withstand pain, hardship, or stress over a long stretch of time.

   Survival in the wild demands real enduring and a steady mind.

   Her quiet enduring through years of pain inspired the whole family.

   Similarfortitude, stamina, perseverance, resilience, forbearance

   Note

   The noun can be counted, and its plural names separate episodes of bearing up. James Kennedy's Probable Origin of the American Indians (1854) speaks of "long years of privations and endurings of hardships." That phrase also shows how to tell it from the gerund. The gerund takes a direct object (enduring hardships), while the noun links its object with of.

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