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fervent

fer·vent

UK/ˈfɜːv(ə)nt/ US/ˈfɜɹvənt/ uncommon archaic obsolete

adjective

1.

characterized by intense emotion

  • “ardent love”
  • “an ardent lover”
  • “a burning enthusiasm”
  • “a fervent desire to change society”
  • “a fervent admirer”
  • “fiery oratory”
  • “an impassioned appeal”
  • “a torrid love affair”
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2.

sincerely or intensely felt

  • “a cordial regard for his visitor”
  • “;”
  • “;”
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3.

extremely hot

  • “the fervent heat...merely communicated a genial warmth to their half-torpid systems” Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • “set out...when the fervid heat subsides” Frances Trollope
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Origin

From Middle English fervent, from Old French fervent (modern French fervent), from Latin ferventem, the accusative masculine or feminine singular form of fervēns (“burning, fiery; hot; zealous; etc.”), the present active participle of ferveō (“to burn; to be hot; (figurative) to be agitated, fired up, or inflamed; etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”).

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Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.