Etymologically
Log in

ferocia

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 16:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɛˈroː.ki.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [feˈrɔː.t͡ʃi.a][1]

Forms

ferōcia f (genitive ferōciae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ferōx (“fierce”) + -ia.[2][1][3] The adjective ferōx is from ferus (“wild”), perhaps as a compound “having a fierce look”; de Vaan thinks it may be one source of the suffix ⟨-ōx⟩.[4] ferus goes back to Proto-Italic *xweros and Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- (“wild animal”).[4][1] Cognate with Ancient Greek θήρ (thḗr, “wild animal”) and Lithuanian žvėrìs (“wild animal”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Thesaurus and Köbler find it first in Appius Claudius Caecus;[3][5] the OLD's first example is Cato on pride and insolence growing in prosperity.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is fierceness or wildness of temper, as in Sallust, of a dead man who kept his fierce spirit in his face, and in Pliny the Elder the harshness of a wine.[2][6] Often it is arrogance or insolence.[2] In a good sense it is courage or fighting spirit.[2][6] Döderlein says that ⟨ferocia⟩ and ferōcitās are natural, wild courage, which even barbarians and beasts have, ⟨ferocia⟩ as a feeling and ⟨ferocitas⟩ as it shows in action, while virtūs and fortitūdō are moral courage.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 340–273 BC – Appius Claudius Caecus.[3][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of insolence in prosperity.[2][5]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust of Catiline's fierce spirit.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the harshness of wine.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Fierceness, wildness of temper; harshness of wine.[2][6][1]
  2. Arrogance, insolence.[2][1]
  3. Fighting spirit, courage.[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper