férocité

Forms

férocité f (plural férocités)^[1] Middle French ferocité, without the accent.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ferōcitās (“spirit, boldness, arrogance”),^[3][4][5] a derivative of ferōx, the source of féroce.^[5][2] In Late Latin the word also took the sense “ferocity”.^[6]

Cognate with Occitan ferocitat, Spanish ferocidad and Italian ferocità.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from the early 14th century, in Aimé du Mont-Cassin's Histoire des Normands;^[3] the Grand Robert gives the same date,^[5] while Rey dates the word to the 13th century and the GLLF to the 12th.^[4][6] An early use in the Songe du Vergier sets ferocité apart from cruaulté: ferocity does not weigh the guilt of the victim, whereas cruelty does, beyond measure.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word was rare until the classical period.^[4][5][6] In the 16th century it could mean “pride, haughtiness” (before 1525, Jean Lemaire de Belges),^[6][4][5] and in the 17th century “brutal rudeness” (1675, Madame de Sévigné).^[6][4] Littré quotes a 15th-century text in which it means a warlike character, and Ambroise Paré speaks of the ferocité of gangrene.^[2]

The modern senses are the wild nature of a beast that kills and the cruelty of a person who behaves like one.^[6][3] Buffon used it in the mid-18th century for a state close to savage nature, and Voltaire in 1767 for an act of cruelty, a sense mostly found in the plural.^[6][3] It is also used of pitiless harshness, as in mocking someone with ferocity.^[7]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – First record, in Aimé du Mont-Cassin's Histoire des Normands.^[3]
• 14th century – The Songe du Vergier distinguishes ferocité from cruaulté.^[2]
• Before 1525 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses it for wild pride.^[6]
• 16th century – Ambroise Paré writes of the ferocité of gangrene.^[2]
• 1675 – Madame de Sévigné uses it for brutal rudeness.^[6][4]
• Mid-18th century – Buffon uses it for a state close to savage nature.^[6]
• 1767 – Voltaire uses it for an act of cruelty.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ferocious nature of a wild animal: la férocité du loup.^[7][3][2]
2. Of people: cruelty, savagery, barbarity.^[7][3]
3. Pitiless harshness: critiquer un livre avec férocité.^[7]
4. (literary) An act of cruelty, mostly in the plural.^[3][6]

Related words

• féroce
• férocement
• Latin ferōcitās

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert