Etymograph

English

ferie

Ferie comes from Latin feriae ‘holidays’, 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’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s-yo-s2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēziās2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferiae3‘holidays’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ferie3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferie3‘a weekday’
  8. Englishtodayferie3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin feriae
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English ferie

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’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰéh₁s-yo-sWiktionary, Latin feriaereconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fēziāsWiktionary, Latin feriaereconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferiaeWiktionary, English ferie‘holidays’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400ferieWiktionary, English ferie
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferieWiktionary, English ferie‘a weekday’
  8. EnglishtodayferieWiktionary, English ferie

Linked words

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

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

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

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

through Latin feriae ‘holidays’

fair, fayre, feria, 5 more

Today it means

noun A holiday.

Sources

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

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