suffice

[suh-fahys, -fahyz]

verb (used without object), suf·ficed, suf·fic·ing.

to be enough or adequate, as for needs, purposes, etc.

verb (used with object), suf·ficed, suf·fic·ing.

to be enough or adequate for; satisfy.

Origin of suffice

1275–1325; Middle English sufficen < Latin sufficere to supply, suffice, equivalent to suf- suf- + -ficere, combining form of facere to make, do¹; replacing Middle English suffisen < Old French < Latin, as above

Related formsun·suf·fic·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sufficed

satisfy, do, serve, content, suit, answer, meet, avail

Examples from the Web for sufficed

Contemporary Examples of sufficed

Any sharp objects would have sufficed, particularly when coupled with the bluff of having a bomb.
TSA Says Yes to Small Knives, Then No—What’s the Problem?
Patrick Smith
April 26, 2013

Historical Examples of sufficed

These few words had sufficed to shame me heartily of my cowardice.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
All her pulling only sufficed to keep the boat from going with the stream.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
In short, I became a personality, and that sufficed for my childish pride.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
Yet it had sufficed that the nations should flock there for a pestilence to break out.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
It now sufficed that she should condemn him, and he at once felt guilty.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for sufficed

suffice

verb

to be adequate or satisfactory for (something)

suffice it to say that (takes a clause as object) let us say no more than that; I shall just say that

Derived Formssufficer, noun

Word Origin for suffice

C14: from Old French suffire, from Latin sufficere from sub- below + facere to make

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sufficed

suffice

early 14c., from stem of Old French souffire "be sufficient," from Latin sufficere "supply, suffice," from sub "up to" (see sub-) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Phrase suffice it to say (late 14c.) is a rare surviving subjunctive.