Etymologically
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fervor

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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]

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