Etymologically
Log in

ferio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:50. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

feriō (present infinitive ferīre, perfect active feriī, future active participle ferītūrus); fourth conjugation, no supine stem except in the future active participle[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fer-je/o-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“to pierce, strike”).[2][1] The same root has the o-grade in forō “to bore”.[2][3] A laryngeal-final root should have given Latin *ferā-, so the loss of the laryngeal before the suffix needs explaining.[2][1]

Cognate with Albanian bie (“to fall, get through”),[2] and the OLD and Georges compare Old High German berjan (“to strike”) and Lithuanian barti (“to rebuke”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] who uses it of striking someone's thigh.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to hit or strike, as Cicero's striking an opponent, and to hit a target, as in Horace.[3][5] It meant to strike dead, and securi ferire “to behead”; to cut open, pierce or lance, as Virgil's opening a vein in the foot; and to strike coins.[3]

Foedus ferire, “to strike a treaty”, from the sacrifice of a victim, is found from Ennius onwards.[3][1] It also meant to strike the strings of a lyre, to afflict, and to strike the mind or senses, as Cicero's metaphor that strikes the sense.[3] The perfect was supplied by percussī.[6] It survives as Italian ferire and Spanish herir, “to wound”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of striking.[2][4][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses foedus ferire, “to strike a treaty”.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses securi feriri, “to be beheaded”.[5][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of opening a vein.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hit, strike, beat.[3][1]
  2. To hit (a target).[3]
  3. To strike dead, kill, securi ferire: to behead.[3][1]
  4. foedus ferire: to make a treaty.[3][1]
  5. To strike (coins).[3][1]
  6. To cut open, pierce, lance.[3][1]
  7. To collide with, hit.[3]
  8. To strike (the strings of a lyre).[3]
  9. To afflict.[3]
  10. To strike (the mind or senses), impress.[3][1]
  11. (grammar) To give a stress to.[3]

Word family

  • ferentārius
  • referiō
  • forō

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes ferire and icere, blows that penetrate or break, from verberare, blows that rebound.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper