feral

Borrowed from Middle French féral, from fer + -al, or borrowed from a Late Latin ferālis, from Latin ferus (“wild”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛɹəl/, /ˈfiːɹəl/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrəl, -iːɹəl
• Homophone: Farrell (Mary–marry–merry merger)

feral (comparative more feral, superlative most feral)

1. Wild, untamed, especially of domesticated animals having returned to the wild.
2. (of a person) Contemptible, unruly, misbehaved.

• feral child
• feral cat
• razorback

• feral child
• feral cat

feral (plural ferals)

1. A domesticated animal that has returned to the wild; an animal, particularly a domesticated animal, living independently of humans.
   • 1960 May 19, “'Notes and Comments: No homes for the pigeons'”, in New Scientist, page 1261:

     Although it is not difficult to induce domestic pigeons to nest in boxes fixed to trees, London′s ferals are not yet acclimatized to arboreal holes.

   • 2005, Alexandra Powe Allred, Cats' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Mysterious Mousers, Talented Tabbies, and Feline Oddities, unnumbered page,

     Traffic, abuse, inhumane traps, and accidental poisoning are other hazards ferals must face. […] In England one gamekeeper claimed to have killed over three hundred ferals, while another brought home pelts to his wife so that she could design rugs from cat skins as a source of secondary income.

   • 2007, Clea Simon, Cries and Whiskers, page 26,

     You trap ferals, neuter them, and give them their rabies shot. Maybe distemper.

   • 2011, Gina Spadafori, Paul D. Pion, Cats for Dummies, unnumbered page,

     If you′ve ever put a saucer of milk out for a hard-luck kitty, or if you′re spending your lunch hour sharing sandwiches with the ferals near your office, this is the chapter for you.

2. (Australia, colloquial) A contemptible young person, a lout, a person who behaves wildly.
3. (Australia, colloquial) A person who has isolated themselves from the outside world; one living an alternative lifestyle.
   • 1995, Bill Metcalf, From Utopian Dreaming to Communal Reality: Cooperative Lifestyles in Australia, page 82,

     The intolerance which was directed towards us during the early years has now shifted to ‘the ferals’ who embrace a new version of nonconformist behaviour that even some of us in their parent′s generation — the Aquarian settlers — don′t like. The ferals are the scapegoats for the drug problems here, and are highly visible since many of them have nowhere to live.

   • 2002, Shane Maloney, Something Fishy, 2003, page 208,

     A pod of ferals was moving towards the exit, a half-dozen soap-shy, low-tech, bush-dwelling hippies.

   • 2010, Anna Krien, Into The Woods: The Battle For Tasmania's Forests, page 102,

     It′s the rootlessness of the ferals that people don′t seem to trust; their claims of connectedness to all wild places touches a nerve. Even residents of Maydena who want to see the Florentine protected dislike the ratbags′ itinerancy.

• The term should not be confused with feral child, a child raised with little or no human assistance.

• flare

Borrowed from a Late Latin ferālis, from Latin ferus (“wild”), or formed from fiero +‎ -al.

feral (plural ferales)

1. feral

• fiero