fever English · revision 6450

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1000|origins=la febris}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfiːvə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfivɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|fēfor]], fēfer, [[bor|la|febris|t=fever]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman fevre, Old French [[m|fro|fievre]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002) The Latin word is related to [[m|la|foveo|alt=fovēre|t=to warm]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) perhaps from PIE [[ine-pro|*dʰegʷʰ-|alt=*dhegh-|t=to burn]].^(Etymonline) It was taken into most Germanic languages, as German Fieber.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A disease marked by high body temperature: about 1000 in Barnhart and the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English also had hriþ for fever,^(Etymonline) and the verb feferian.^(Etymonline) Intense nervous excitement or agitation, as ''a fever of impatience'', is from 1586, the 1580s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Fever ague'' (1338) translated Old French fievre ague, acute fever.^(OED 1989) [[feverish|alt=Feverish]] meant causing fever before 1398 and excited, restless from 1634, in Milton.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to throw into a fever, is from 1606 in MWU.^(MWU 2024) Word Origins notes that the plant [[feverfew]] was a traditional cure, from Latin febrifugia.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a fever.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1338 – fever ague.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1586 – intense excitement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1634 – feverish, restless.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An abnormally high body temperature, usually with shivering and headache.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of various diseases marked by fever: ''yellow fever''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A state of nervous excitement or agitation: ''a fever of anticipation''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[feverless]]

+ * [[feverweed]]

+ * [[enfever]]

+ * [[feverish]]

+ * [[feverous]]

+ * [[feverroot]]

+ * [[feverwort]]

+ * [[brain fever]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fever blister]]

+ * [[fever pitch]]

+ * [[fever therapy]]

+ * [[fever tree]]

+ * [[fever twig]]

+ * [[febrile]]

+ * [[fervent]]

+ * [[fervid]]

+ * [[fervor]]

+ * [[feverfew]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}