Etymograph

English

fierce

Fierce comes from Middle English fers ‘brave, bold’, from Old French fers ‘wild", "ferocious’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweh₁r-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferus‘wild", "untamed’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fers‘wild", "ferocious’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fers‘brave, bold’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1902fierce

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰweh₁r-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferus‘wild", "untamed’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fers‘wild", "ferocious’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fers‘brave, bold’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1902fierce

Earliest quotation: 1902, John Buchan: “Yet his passion for her had grown fiercer than…”.

Linked words

through Latin ferus ‘wild", "untamed’

zebra, ferocity, 8 more

through Middle English fers ‘brave, bold’

fers, 2 more

Today it means

adj Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r- / fierce

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