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furo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word furo

Confidence
Uncertain
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfʊ.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfuː.ro][1]

Forms

furō (present infinitive furere, perfect active furuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] The perfect furuī is rare; grammarians supplied it with īnsānīvī.[2] Virgil has the syncopated genitive plural of the participle furentum.[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain: de Vaan finds that none of the many proposals is clearly the best.[3][1] The OLD and Wiktionary compare Slavic words for a storm such as Russian буря (burja, “storm”), and Wiktionary also Sanskrit भुरति (bhurati, “to quiver”), which would point to Proto-Indo-European *bʰur-.[4][1] Lewis & Short compare Ancient Greek θοῦρος (thoûros, “rushing, impetuous”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius.[3] An unnamed early tragedian has furere adsimulāre … īnstitit, “he began to pretend to be mad”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Furō is to be out of one's mind, mad (Cicero: those mad through illness), then to behave wildly, rage, rave, and to rage with anger or hatred.[4][1] It is to have a mad passion for something (Lucan: Caesar in arma furēns, “mad for war”), and to rush wildly about (Virgil: lātē furentēs Barcaeī).[4] Of storms, the sea, fire and the Dog Star it is to rage (Virgil: tempestās sine mōre furit, Horace: iam Procyōn furit).[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of those mad through illness.[4][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil: tempestās sine mōre furit.[4][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace: iam Procyōn furit.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be mad, out of one's mind.[4][1]
  2. To rage, rave, behave wildly.[4][2][1]
  3. To rage with anger or hatred.[4]
  4. To be mad (for something), long madly.[4]
  5. To rush wildly about.[4]
  6. (of storms, the sea, fire) To rage.[4]

Word family

  • furor
  • furia
  • furibundus
  • interfurō
  • perfurō
  • praefurō

Usage notes

A late noun fūrō, genitive fūrōnis, a form of fūr “thief”, is found from Isidore on, Isidore uses it of the ferret, which digs dark tunnels and carries off its prey, and medieval Latin has it for both “ferret” and “thief”.[6][5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Furo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/furo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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