Etymograph

English

ferial

Ferial comes from Latin fēria ‘weekday’, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god, godhead, deity’, and ultimately from *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s2‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s-yo-s2reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēziās2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēriae3
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēria4‘weekday’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500fēriālis4
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferial4
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1921ferial4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin feriae
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin feria
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English ferial
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow: “[They] / Dance within the magic shade / That…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s‘to do’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁sWiktionary, Latin feriae‘god, godhead, deity’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s-yo-sWiktionary, Latin feriaereconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēziāsWiktionary, Latin feriaereconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēriaeWiktionary, Latin feria
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfēriaWiktionary, English ferial‘weekday’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500fēriālisWiktionary, English ferial
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferialWiktionary, English ferial
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1921ferialWiktionary, English ferial. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow: “[They] / Dance within the magic shade / That…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do’

do, fact, hot, deal, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, defense, theme, feature, custom, ethnic, sufficient, defence, treasury, treasure, thesis, aesthetic, synthetic, ethical, doom, tick, defendant, deed, ethic, auditor, demi, deem, spade, thematic, ethos, forfeit, anesthetic, duma, medallion, thesaurus, prefect, certify, spatula, 113 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s ‘god, godhead, deity’

theology, dis, feast, atheist, atheism, fanatic, profanity, profane, theism, feral, fane, apotheosis, theist, 23 more

through Latin fēriae

fair, fayre, 6 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to an ordinary weekday, rather than a festival or fast.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ferial”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s, Latin feriae, Latin feria. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / ferial

Shirt and support for this word