# comfort
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkʌm.fət/
* (Northern England) IPA: /ˈkʊm.fət/
* (General American) enPR: kŭm'fərt, IPA: /ˈkʌm.fɚt/, [ˈkʰʌɱ.fɚt]
* (obsolete) enPR: kŭmfôrt', IPA: /kʌmˈfɔɹt/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English comfort, from Old French cunfort, confort, from the stem of Late Latin confortō. It replaced Old English frofor, Middle English frovre.

#### Noun

comfort (countable and uncountable, plural comforts)
* Contentment, ease.
    Antonym: austerity
    Sleep in comfort with our new mattress.
** 1684, chapter III, in Bucaniers of America: Or, A True Account of the Moſt Remarkable Aſſaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coaſts of the West-Indies, by Bucaniers of Jamica and Tortuga, Both English and French; Wherein are Contained More Eſpecially, the Unparallel'd Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, Our Engliſh Jamaican Hero, who ſack'd Puerto Velo, Burnt Panama. &c [Part II]‎, volume 1, London: Printed for William Crooke, translation of De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, […] by John Eſquemeling, page 30:But all was in vain: For having ranged up and down the Woods for ſome days, without finding the leaſt comfort to their hungry deſires, they were forced to return again unto the River. […] At laſt they arrived at the Coaſt of the Sea, where they found ſome comfort and relief to their former miſeries, and alſo means to ſeek more.
** 1850, T. S. Arthur, “A Rise in the Butter Market”, in Sketches of Life and Character‎, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 59:How often is the comfort of a whole family abridged by some trifling circumstance, that ought not to have made a visible impression!
** 1937 September 21, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “An Unexpected Party”, in The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published February 1966 (August 1967 printing), →OCLC, page 15:In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
* Something that offers comfort.
    the comforts of home
* A consolation; something relieving suffering or worry.
    Synonyms: liss, solace; see also Thesaurus:consolation
    We still have the spare tire? That's a comfort at least.
* A cause of relief or satisfaction.
    The outcome of the peace negotiations in Moscow in 1940 was a heavy blow to the young nation, but in the same time a great comfort: at least the independency was preserved.

##### Derived terms

* cold comfort
* comfortability
* comfortable
* comfortative
* comfort break
* comfort-eat
* comfort eating
* comfort fic
* comfortfic
* comfort food
* comfortful
* comfort girl
* comfortize
* comfortless
* comfort letter
* comfortment
* comfort noise
* comfort room
* comfortsome
* comfort station
* comfort stop
* comfort tone
* comfortwear
* comfort woman
* comfort zone
* creature comfort
* discomfort
* Dutch comfort
* Job's comfort
* Lawson comfort criterion
* letter of comfort
* lip comfort
* miscomfort
* too close for comfort
* uncomfort

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

From Middle English comforten, from Old French conforter, from Late Latin confortō (“to strengthen greatly”), itself from Latin con- (“together”) + fortis (“strong”).

#### Verb

comfort (third-person singular simple present comforts, present participle comforting, simple past and past participle comforted)
* (transitive) To relieve the distress or suffering of; to provide comfort to.
    Synonyms: besoothe, console; see also Thesaurus:comfort
    Rob comforted Aaron because he was lost and very sad.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 86:17:Shew me a token foꝛ good, that they which hate me may ſee it, and bee aſhamed: becauſe thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comfoꝛted me.
** 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:Light, above all things, excelleth in comforting the spirits of men.
* (obsolete) To make strong; to invigorate; to fortify; to corroborate.
** 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):God's own testimony […] doth not a little comfort and confirm the same.
* (obsolete) To assist or help; to aid.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:I […] cannot help the noble chevalier: / God comfort him in this necessity!

##### Derived terms

* comforter
* comforting (adjective, noun)
* uncomfort

##### Translations
## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch confoort, from Old French confort.

### Pronunciation

* (Netherlands) IPA: /kɔmˈfɔːr/
* (Belgium) IPA: /kɔmˈfɔr(t)/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: com‧fort

### Noun

comfort n (plural comforts, diminutive comfortje n)
* physical comfort, ease

#### Derived terms

* comfortabel
* ligcomfort
* rijcomfort
* zitcomfort

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* cumfort, confort, counfort

### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French cunfort, confort.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kumˈfɔrt/, /kunˈfɔrt/

### Noun

comfort (plural comforts)
* encouragement, assurance

#### Descendants

* English: comfort
* Yola: comfoort

#### References

* “cǒmfort, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.