fervent

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈfɜrvənt/ UK /ˈfɜːvənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
showing intense, passionate feeling or zeal

She offered a fervent plea for mercy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing intense, passionate... passionate ardent zealous impassioned intense earnest vehement

Opposites

apathetic indifferent cool dispassionate

Word family

Derived forms ferventlyferventness

Related forms fervid fervorfervencyeffervescent

Etymology

From Old French fervent, from Latin fervens (stem fervent-), present participle of fervere ('to boil, glow'), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrew- ('to boil, ferment').

fervere Latin *bʰrew- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# fervent

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɜrvənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɜːvənt/

## Meanings
1. showing intense, passionate feeling or zeal

## Examples
- She offered a fervent plea for mercy.

## Synonyms
- passionate
- ardent
- zealous
- impassioned
- intense
- earnest
- vehement

## Antonyms
- apathetic
- indifferent
- cool
- dispassionate

## Derived Forms
- fervently
- ferventness

## Related Forms
- fervid
- fervor
- fervency
- effervescent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fervere
- Root: *bʰrew-

## Etymology
From Old French fervent, from Latin fervens (stem fervent-), present participle of fervere ('to boil, glow'), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrew- ('to boil, ferment').

## AI Etymology
Fervent comes from Old French fervent, from Latin fervens (stem fervent-), present participle of fervere ('to boil, glow'), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrew- ('to boil, ferment'). The participial history matters: an older ongoing or agentive verbal form is preserved in English as the word's lexical shape. In present use, it is used as an adjective meaning "showing intense, passionate feeling or zeal", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as fervently and ferventness and related forms such as fervid, fervor, fervency, and effervescent, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin fervere and Proto-Indo-European *bʰrew-, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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