Where does “fierceness” come from?
Fierceness comes from Middle English fierceness, composed of fierce plus the Old English suffix -nes, ultimately from Latin ferus meaning wild, derived from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰwer-.
fierceness (English): The state of being fierce
Definitions
- The state of being fierce
Ancestry of “fierceness”, step by step
fierceness traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English fierce
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fierce | Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or... |
| 2 | Middle English | fers | brave, bold |
| 3 | Old English | fers | verse; sentence, title |
| 4 | Latin | versus | turned, changed, having been turned; towards,... |
| 5 | Latin | vertō | to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | wertō | to turn |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wert- | to turn, to rotate |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |
via Middle English fersnesse
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fersnesse | ferociousness, fierceness |