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

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfiːvə/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfivɚ/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -iːvə(ɹ)
  • Hyphenation: fe‧ver

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 or anxiety.
    • Shakespeare
      an envious fever
  4. A group of stingrays.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

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
    • Shakespeare
      the white hand of a lady fever thee
  2. To become fevered.

Further reading

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

Anagrams

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