A person who suffers together with another person or group, sharing in the same hardship or pain.
From Latin 'co-' meaning 'together' and 'sufferer' from Old French 'sufrir', ultimately from Latin 'sufferre' meaning 'to bear or endure'. The prefix 'co-' was added to indicate shared experience of suffering.
This word shows how Medieval and Renaissance writers loved creating 'co-' compounds to express solidarity—you'd find this in religious texts describing martyrs or political writings about shared oppression, reflecting a linguistic way to bond people through common struggle.
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