fervor

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɛr.wɔr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfɛr.vor]^[1]

Forms

fervor m (genitive fervōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from ferveō “to boil, be hot” with the suffix -or.^[2][1][3][4] De Vaan traces ⟨ferveō⟩ to Proto-Italic *ferwe/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeru- (“to be hot, boil”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Lucretius.^[2] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was heat, high temperature, a boiling, fermenting, as in Lucretius and Varro; fever, inflammation, and the hot quality of a food or poison, as in Pliny the Elder; the seething of troubled waters, as in Cicero; disturbance of the mind; and ardour, hot blood, enthusiasm, as in Cicero's fervor aetātis and Virgil, and vehemence, passion, as in Seneca.^[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant fervour.^[8] British Medieval Latin used it for great heat.^[9] English fervor came through Old French in the mid-14th century, “warmth or glow of feeling”.^[4]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of ardour.^[2][6]
• mid-14th century – English fervor is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Heat; a boiling, seething.^[2][7]
2. Fever, inflammation.^[2]
3. Disturbance of the mind.^[2]
4. Ardour, enthusiasm, passion, fervor.^[2]

Related words

• ferveō
• fervidus
• English fervor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press