fièvre

Forms

fièvre f (plural fièvres)^[1] Old French fievre;^[1][2] Middle French also fiebvre.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French fievre, inherited from Old French fievre, inherited from Latin febris (“fever”).^[3][1][4][5] Rey calls the Latin word of obscure origin;^[6] Littré reports that the etymologists of his day connected it with Ancient Greek φέβομαι (phébomai, “to flee in fear”).^[2]

Cognate with Italian febbre, Old Occitan febre, Catalan febra, Spanish fiebre and Portuguese febre.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1155 in Wace's Brut as the name of the illness: Malade fud de fievre ague “he was sick with an acute fever”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

From the medical sense the word was used figuratively for a state of agitation or excitement, about 1190 according to Rey and the Grand Robert and in 1306 according to the TLFi.^[6][8][3] Fièvre de followed by a noun or an infinitive, “a burning desire for”, dates from 1793; it gave la fièvre de l'or “gold fever” (1865).^[3][6]

In medicine the plural fièvres named several feverish diseases: fièvre tierce and fièvre quarte are found in Paré about 1560, fièvre jaune “yellow fever” is recorded by Littré in 1865, and the 20th century added names such as fièvre de Malte.^[9][6] In the 16th century Montaigne could also use it for a fit of fear.^[2]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace's Brut has fievre ague “acute fever”.^[3]
• c. 1190 – Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for excitement.^[9][8]
• 1306 – Guiart uses it figuratively for agitation.^[3]
• c. 1560 – Paré names the fièvre tierce and fièvre quarte.^[9]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses the derivative enfiévrer.^[4]
• 1793 – Fièvre de “burning desire for” appears in Laya.^[3]
• 1865 – La fièvre de l'or is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An abnormal rise in body temperature, a fever: avoir de la fièvre, la fièvre monte.^[7][10]
2. Une fièvre de cheval (familiar): a very high fever.^[7][11]
3. A feverish disease: fièvre jaune, fièvre typhoïde, fièvre de Malte.^[7][9]
4. Bouton de fièvre (familiar): a cold sore, a blister of herpes on the lip.^[7]
5. A state of agitation or excitement: travailler avec fièvre.^[10][3]
6. An ardent desire or passion for something: la fièvre de l'or, une fièvre de voyager.^[3][10]

Word family

• enfiévrer
• fiévreux
• fiévreusement

Related words

• fébrile
• fébrifuge
• Latin febris

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 440b
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)