fera

Forms

fera f (plural feras)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fera (“wild animal”), the feminine of the adjective ferus (“wild, savage”) used as a noun, short for a phrase with bēstia (“beast”).^[2][3][4][1] Houaiss dates it to the 14th century and Cunha to the 16th.^[2][3] The adjective is Portuguese fero “fierce”, recorded from the 13th century, and the noun has the same form as its feminine.^[5][3]

The same Latin noun is Spanish fiera, Italian fiera, Catalan fera and Romanian fiară.^[6][1] De Vaan derives the Latin adjective from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- (“wild animal”), the source also of Ancient Greek θήρ (thḗr) and Lithuanian žvėris.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first text in the CTA with fera is the Horto do Esposo, in a witness of 1390–1437.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines fera as a fierce beast such as the lion or tiger, and Morais (1813) as an untamed, fierce, carnivorous animal.^[9][10] The figurative sense “a cruel person” is in Figueiredo (1899), with the constellation of the southern sky.^[11] In the 20th century the word came to mean a very strict or irritable person and, in colloquial Brazilian and European use, an expert or ace at something; in Brazil also a brave or a rude person.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 1300s – first record, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• c. 1430 – fera in the Horto do Esposo (witness 1390–1437).^[8]
• 1697 – Pereira renders Fera by Latin bellua and fera.^[14]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the lion and tiger as examples.^[9]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records the figurative sense “cruel person”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wild beast: any fierce animal, especially a carnivore: As feras rondavam o acampamento.^[2][13][1]
2. (figurative) A cruel, violent person.^[2][12][1]
3. (figurative, informal) A very strict or easily angered person: A diretora é uma fera.^[2][12]
4. (informal) An ace, an expert: someone very good at something; also as an adjective: Ele é fera em química.^{[2][12][15][1]}
5. (football) A player who is not easily intimidated.^[2]
6. (Brazil) A brave person; also a rude, ill-mannered one.^[2][16]
7. (Pernambuco, informal) A student newly admitted to university, a freshman.^[17][1]
8. (astronomy, capitalised) A constellation of the southern sky.^[15][13]

Word family

• besta-fera

Related words

• fero
• feroz
• Latin ferus
• Spanish fiera

Usage notes

Ficar uma fera means “to become furious”.^[13][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fera
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. fero
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. fera
5. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. fero
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ferus
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. fera
9. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fera
10. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 12
11. ^ a b Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 607
12. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. fera
13. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. fera
14. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. fera
15. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4248
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. fera
17. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. fera