: endure, abide—usually used with can and negative
I can't abear a sulk H. G. Wells
Word History
Etymology
Middle English aberen "to bear up, raise, put up with, endure," going back to Old English āberan "to bear, sustain, endure," from a- "out, away" (also as weak perfective prefix) + beran to bear; a- (also ā-, ǣ- under stress in nominal derivatives) akin to Old Frisian a-, perfective prefix, Old Saxon ā-, ō- (unstressed a-) and probably to Old English or- "outward, extreme, lacking (in nominal compounds)," Old Frisian & Old Saxon ur-, or-, Old High German ar-, ir-, er- unstressed inchoative verb prefix, ur "out of, away from," Old Norse ūr-, ör-, "out of, from," ør-, privative prefix, Gothic us- "out of," us-, privative and perfective prefix; if from pre-Germanic *ud-s- akin to Old English ūt "out"
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above