fera

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɛ.ra]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛː.ra]^[1]

Forms

fera f (genitive ferae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of ferus “wild”, used as a noun.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨ferus⟩ to Proto-Italic *χwero-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- (“wild animal”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Naevius, whom he dates c. 235–200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a wild or undomesticated animal, a wild beast, as in Accius, Cicero and Caesar; a beast as against a human being, as in Pacuvius; a sea creature; and in Cicero a constellation in the shape of a beast.^[2][3]

In Medieval Latin it was especially a deer, the red deer.^[6] Fera domōrum was a domestic animal.^[5] It survives in Italian fiera, Spanish fiera and Romanian fiară.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[5]
• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a wild animal.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wild animal, wild beast.^[2]
2. A beast (as against a human).^[2]
3. A constellation shaped like a beast.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A deer.^[6]

Related words

• ferus
• ferīnus
• bēstia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill