Cognates include Greek talantos "bearing, suffering," tolman "to carry, bear," telamon "broad strap for bearing something," talenton "a balance, pair of scales," Atlas "the 'Bearer' of Heaven;" Lithuanian tiltas "bridge;" Sanskrit tula "balance," tulayati "lifts up, weighs;" Latin tolerare "to bear, support," perhaps also latus "borne;" Old English þolian "to endure;" Armenian tolum "I allow." Figurative sense of "praise highly" in English is first attested c. 1500. Related: Extolled; extolling.
late 14c., orange bright star in the constellation Bootes (also used of the whole constellation), from Latin Arcturus, from Greek Arktouros, literally "guardian of the bear" (the bright star was anciently associated with nearby Ursa Major, the "Big Dipper," which it seems to follow across the sky). For first element see arctic; second element is Greek ouros "watcher, guardian, ward," from PIE root *wer- (3) "perceive, watch out for." It is fourth-brightest of the fixed stars. The double nature of the great bear/wagon (see Big Dipper) has given two different names to the constellation that follows it: Arktouros "bear-ward" and Bootes "the wagoner" (from Greek, ultimately from PIE root *gwou- "ox, bull, cow").
Arcturus in the Bible (Job ix.9 and xxxviii.32) is a mistranslation by Jerome (continued in KJV) of Hebrew 'Ayish, which refers to what we see as the "bowl" of the Big Dipper. In Israel and Arabia, the seven stars of the Great Bear seem to have been a bier (the "bowl") followed by three mourners. In the Septuagint it was translated as Pleiada, which is equally incorrect.
English river name, from Celtic abona "river," from *ab- "water" (see afanc). Of the at least four rivers in England and two in Scotland that bear the name, Shakespeare's is the Warwickshire Avon.
late 14c., preferren, "to put forward or advance in rank or fortune, to promote (to an office, dignity, or position); further (one's interest)," from Old French preferer (14c.) and directly from Latin praeferre "place or set before, carry in front," from prae "before" (see pre-) + ferre "to carry, to bear," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children."
The meaning "to esteem or value (something) more than others, set before others in liking or esteem" also is recorded from late 14c. and is now the usual sense. The other sense in English is preserved in preferment.
Used in designating the rocks which formed the great coal-beds of England, France, Germany and the United States; from 1832 with reference to the geological period when these were laid down. As a stand-alone noun (short for Carboniferous Period) by 1907.
