efferous

English

Etymology

From Latin efferus (“savage”), from ex (“intensifier”) + ferus (“wild”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛfəɹəs/

Adjective

efferous (comparative more efferous, superlative most efferous)

1. (obsolete) Like a wild beast; fierce.
   • 1614, John King, Vitis Palatina:

     From the teeth of that efferous beast, from the tusk of the wild boar, – O Thou, that art the root and generation of David, preserve our root and all his generation.

Related terms

• efferate

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “efferous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)