fever

See also: Fever

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English fever, fevere, from Old English fefer, fefor (“fever”), from Latin febris (“a fever”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). Replaced native Old English hriþ (“fever”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Fiewer,German Fieber, Danish feber, Swedish feber.

Pronunciation

Noun

fever (countable and uncountable, plural fevers)

  1. A higher than normal body temperature of a person (or, generally, a mammal), usually caused by disease.
    "I have a fever. I think I've the flu."
  2. (usually in combination with one or more preceding words) Any of various diseases.
    scarlet fever
  3. A state of excitement (of a person or people).
    • Shakespeare
      an envious fever
  4. A group of stingrays.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

higher than normal body temperature

See also

References

Verb

fever (third-person singular simple present fevers, present participle fevering, simple past and past participle fevered)

  1. To put into a fever; to affect with fever.
    a fevered lip
    The white hand of a lady fever thee. — Shakespeare.

Further reading

  • fever in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • fever in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

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