All 3 Uses

forbearance
in
The Poisonwood Bible
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We had known him to forbear with a silent grimace when Methuselah said, "Piss off," but of course that was the doing of Brother Fowles.†
Chpt 1

forbear = refrain (hold back) from acting
I'm sure the Congolese heard it every day for a hundred years while they had to forbear the Belgians.
Chpt 5 *

forbear = tolerate; or refrain from acting
What do people here know but forbearance?†
Chpt 5

forbearance = refraining (holding back) from acting OR patience, tolerance, or self-control

Definitions:

(1) (forbearance)
patient tolerance or self-control; or holding back from taking action or enforcing a right

Today, the word, forbearance, is most commonly seen in the field of law to indicate that a legal right, claim or privilege is not being enforced.
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
The form, forbears is typically a verb, but can be an alternate spelling of the noun forebears; i.e., ancestors. Note that these words put the emphasis on different syllables: for-BEARS v. FORE-bears