English
ferocious
Ferocious comes from Latin ferōx ‘wild, bold, savage, fierce’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰwer-‘wild’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweroh₃kʷs‘having the appearance of a wild animal’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōx‘wild, bold, savage, fierce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976ferocious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰwer-‘wild’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweroh₃kʷs‘having the appearance of a wild animal’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōx‘wild, bold, savage, fierce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1976ferocious
Earliest quotation: 1976, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift: “But it seemed to me that there were few…”
Formed from -ous
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- ‘wild’
Today it means
adj Marked by extreme and violent energy.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- / ferocious