English
ferule
Ferule comes from Latin ferula ‘giant fennel’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferula‘giant fennel’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ferule
- Englishearliest quotation 1820same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferula‘giant fennel’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ferule
- Englishearliest quotation 1820same form
Earliest quotation: 1820, Geoffrey Crayon pseudonym; Washington Ir, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: “In his hand he swayed a ferule, that sceptre…”
Linked words
through Latin festūca ‘stalk, straw’
Today it means
noun A ruler-shaped instrument, generally used to slap naughty children on the hand.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin ferula / ferule