fervent

From Middle English fervent, from Old French fervent, from Latin fervens, ferventem, present participle of fervere (“to boil, ferment, glow, rage”).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɝ.vənt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɜː.vənt/

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (US):

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• Hyphenation: fer‧vent
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)vənt

fervent (comparative more fervent, superlative most fervent)

1. Exhibiting particular enthusiasm, zeal, conviction, persistence, and/or belief.
   • 1819, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, chapter 3, in Mathilda:

     As I returned my fervent hopes were dashed by so many fears.

   • 2022 June 2, Kevin Liptak and Kaitlan Collins, “Biden makes fervent plea for stricter gun laws: ‘How much more carnage are we willing to accept?’”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     President Joe Biden issued a fervent appeal Thursday for stricter gun laws – including a ban on assault weapons, tougher background check laws and a higher minimum age of purchase – as a spate of gun massacres have left the nation shaken and prompted new discussions on Capitol Hill about how to prevent them.

2. Having or showing emotional warmth, fervor, and/or passion.
   • 1876, Wilkie Collins, “Mr. Captain and the Nymph,”, in Little Novels:

     Never again would those fresh lips touch his lips with their fervent kiss!

3. Glowing, burning, very hot.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Peter 3:10:

     But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

• fever
• ferment
• fervid
• fervor

• “fervent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “fervent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “fervent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Borrowed from Latin ferventem.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [fərˈben]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [fərˈvent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [feɾˈvent]

fervent m or f (masculine and feminine plural fervents)

1. fervent

   Synonym: fervorós

• ferventment

• fervor

• “fervent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “fervent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “fervent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fervent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Inherited from Old French, from Latin ferventem.

• IPA^(key): /fɛʁ.vɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: fervents

fervent (feminine fervente, masculine plural fervents, feminine plural ferventes)

1. fervent

• fervemment

• “fervent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

fervent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ferveō

• farvent, ferfent, fervein, fervente, ffervent, vervent

Borrowed from Old French fervent, from Latin fervēns, ferventem; compare fervour.

• IPA^(key): /fɛrˈvɛnt/, /ˈfɛrvɛnt/

fervent

1. fervent (very hot)
2. (by extension) tempestuous, fierce
3. fervent (ardent, enthusiastic)
4. (pathology) inflamed, feverous

• fervently
• ferventnesse

• English: fervent
• Scots: fervent

• “fervent, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Borrowed from French fervent, from Latin fervens.

fervent m or n (feminine singular ferventă, masculine plural fervenți, feminine and neuter plural fervente)

1. fervent