English
ferine
Ferine comes from Latin ferīnus ‘of or belonging to wild animals’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweh₁r-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferus‘wild’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfera‘wild animal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEferīnus‘of or belonging to wild animals’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749ferine
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweh₁r-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferus‘wild’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfera‘wild animal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEferīnus‘of or belonging to wild animals’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749ferine
Earliest quotation: 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones: “the season of rutting (an uncouth phrase, by which…”
The story
The zoological sense was coined by William Whewell in 1840.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-
through Latin ferus ‘wild’
Today it means
adj Pertaining to wild, menacing animals; feral.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- / ferine