comfort (n.)
c. 1200, “feeling of relief in affliction or sorrow; solace, consolation” (as still in take comfort); also “source of alleviation or relief;” from Old French confort “consolation, solace; pleasure, enjoyment,” from conforter “to solace; to help,
strengthen” (see comfort (v.)). An Old English word in the same sense was frofor. Meaning “state of enjoyment resulting from satisfaction of bodily wants and freedom from anxiety” is from mid-13c. Also in Middle English “strength, support, encouragement” (late 14c.). Comforts (as opposed to necessities and luxuries) is from 1650s.
Categories: Long Stories