Etymograph

English

feral

From Latin fera (“wild beast”, noun) + -al or Latin ferus (“wild; savage; cruel”, adjective) + -al.

A compound of fera ‘wild beast’ + ferus ‘wild’

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-

Latin ferus ‘wild’

Latin fera ‘wild beast’

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-

Latin ferus ‘wild’

Another origin of feral

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s‘god, sacred place’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēzo-reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfērālis‘funereal’
  5. Englishtodayferal

Today it means

adj Wild; untamed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “feral”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / feral

Shirt and support for this word