Middle English Dictionary Entry

fēver n.
Quotations: Show all Hide all

Entry Info

Forms fēver n. Also fefer, feofer, fovre, fevre, fiever, fiver.
Etymology OE fefer, feofor & OF fievre (both from L febris).

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

Note: Cp. febre.
1.
High bodily temperature, fever; a disease of which fever is a symptom; an attack of fever, a paroxysm of ague; (the) feveres, (malarial) chills and fever, ague.
Show 20 Quotations
2.
(a) A violent emotional state, such as lovesickness, jealousy, passion; (b) fig. a state of moral disease, i.e. sinfulness.
Show 9 Quotations
3.
(a) blaunk fever, a stage of lovesickness analogous to chills; (b) brenning ~, the feverish stage of ague; (c) cold ~, the cold stage of an ague, chills; (d) dæȝehwanlic ~, quotidien fever; (e) double ~, any of several sub-varieties of roted fever; (f) ~ acute, ~ agu, ~ agew, a malarial fever with successive paroxysms of fever, chills, and sweating, ague; acute or violent fever, an onset of severe fever; (g) ~ continuel, a remittent variety of roted fever; (h) ~ cotidian (quotidian), an intermittent variety of roted fever with daily recurring attacks, quotidian fever; (i) ~ effimere a fever of a day's duration, ephemeral fever; (j) ~ etik, hectic fever, ?consumption; (k) ~ lente, ?a slow or prolonged fever; (l) ~ pestilential, an epidemic fever; (m) ~ putrida = roted ~; (n) ~ quartane, an intermittent variety of roted fever, with attacks recurring every third day, quartan fever; (o) ~ secundan, ?an intermittent fever recurring every second day; (p) ~ terciane, an intermittent variety of roted fever with attacks recurring every other day, tertian fever; (q) hot ~, ?the feverish stage of ague; ?violent fever; (r) on-daies ~, ephemeral fever; (s) roted ~, a kind of fever said to be caused by the putrefaction of 'humors' in the body; a generic term (transl. L febris putrida) for the group of fevers comprising continual, quotidian, tercian, and quartan fever and their sub-varieties; ?malaria of various forms; (t) sharp ~; (u) thriddedaies ~, tertian fever; (v) whit feveres = blaunche ~.
Show 58 Quotations
4.
~ chasour, Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium), translating Latin febrifuga; ~ hete, febrility; ~ knobbe, ?a glandular swelling resulting from fever; ?a fever sore.
Show 3 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?c1425 Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)299/32 : When þat many schrewed humours ben..hurlede togedre for the grevynge of acutes i. scharpe feueres..þai geten a scharpnesse and a venymehede.
    • Note: Supplemental material for 3.(t)
    Note: New spelling

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Under sense 3.(a), changed blaunche fever to blaunk fever--JL

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. burning fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(c)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. cold fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(f)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. acute fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(f)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fever ague.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(g)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. continual fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(h)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. quotidian fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(i)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. ephimer fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(j)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. ethic fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(k)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. lent fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(k)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. Lent fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(l)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. pestilential fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(m)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fever putrida.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(n)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. quartan fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(o)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. secundan fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(p)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. tertian fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(q)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. hot fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(r)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. one day's fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(s)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. rotted fever.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(t)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. sharp fever.

©2025 Regents of the University of Michigan. For details about this collection's copyright see the MEC copyright statement and the U-M Library Copyright Policy. Data last refreshed Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 12:18:00.