Etymograph

English

perfervid

Perfervid comes from Late Latin perfervidus, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peri-1reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEperfervidus2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1939perfervid2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin per-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English perfervid
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Philip George Chadwick, The Death Guard: “Manders — perfervid — 'hell'-ing excitedly (was there no…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Latin per-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peri-Wiktionary, Latin per-reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEperfervidusWiktionary, English perfervid
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1939perfervidWiktionary, English perfervid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1939, Philip George Chadwick, The Death Guard: “Manders — perfervid — 'hell'-ing excitedly (was there no…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per-

first, before, support, far, report, price, private, press, further, practice, opportunity, pre, per, primary, prior, prime, appreciate, port, fear, prize, afford, pregnant, ford, practical, forth, precious, praise, parade, par, interpretation, privilege, pirate, fare, porch, primitive, prix, ferry, pragmatic, privy, prism, 155 more

through Proto-Italic *peri-

pardon

Today it means

adj Extremely, excessively, or feverishly passionate; zealous.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “perfervid”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin per-. 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 *per- / perfervid

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