febrile

Mar. 16th, 2021 07:38 am
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[personal profile] prettygoodword
febrile (FEE-bruhl, FEB-ruhl, (Brit.) FEE-brail) - adj., of, marked by, or pertaining to a fever, feverish; full of nervous energy.


Another bit of Latin medical jargon taken first into English then given an extended metaphoric sense -- in this case, gacked around 1650 from Late Latin adjectival form febrīlis, from Latin febris, fever. The superficially similar (in sound and meaning) fervid is actually unrelated, coming from Latin fervidus, boiling.

---L.

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