fervent

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fervens, ferventem, present participle of fervere (“to boil, ferment, glow, rage”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɝ.vənt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɜː.vənt/
• Hyphenation: fer‧vent
• Rhymes: -ʌnt

fervent (comparative more fervent, superlative most fervent)

1. Exhibiting particular enthusiasm, zeal, conviction, persistence, or belief.
   • 1819, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Mathilda, ch. 3:

     As I returned my fervent hopes were dashed by so many fears.

2. Having or showing emotional warmth, fervor, or passion.
   • 1876, Wilkie Collins, "Mr. Captain and the Nymph," in Little Novels,

     Never again would those fresh lips touch his lips with their fervent kiss!

3. Glowing, burning, very hot.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Second Epistle of Peter, 3:10:

     But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

• fervently

• fever
• ferment
• fervid
• fervor

• fervent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fervent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fervent at OneLook Dictionary Search

From Old French, borrowed from Latin fervēntem, accusative of fervēns.

• IPA^(key): /fɛʁ.vɑ̃/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: fervents

fervent (feminine singular fervente, masculine plural fervents, feminine plural ferventes)

1. fervent

• “fervent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

fervent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ferveō