fer

See also: Appendix:Variations of "fer"

English

Pronunciation

(unstressed) IPA^(key): /fə(ɹ)/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
Audio (US): (file)

Preposition

fer

(dialectal, especially British) Pronunciation spelling of for.
- 1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:
  “[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”
- 1997, J.K. Rowling, chapter IV, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:
  ‘Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.’

Derived terms

References

“fer”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

REF, RFE, Ref, Ref., erf, ref

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin facere.

Verb

fer

to do

Conjugation

Conjugation of fer (second conjugation, irregular)

past participle				masculine		feminine
infinitive			fer
gerund			fendo
		singular		feito		feita
		plural		feitos		feitas
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	foi	fas	fa	femos	fez	fan
	imperfect	feba, febe	febas	feba	febanos	febaz	feban
	preterite	fazié	faziés	fazió	faziemos	faziez	fazioron, fazión
	future	faré, feré	farás, ferás	fará, ferá	faremos, feremos	faré, ferez	farán, ferán
	conditional	faría, fería	farías, ferías	faría, fería	faríanos, feríanos	faríaz, feríaz	farían, ferían
subjunctive		yo	tú	él	nusatros nusatras	vusatros vusatras	ellos/els ellas
	present	faiga, faya	faigas, fayas	faiga, faya	faigamos, fayamos	faigaz, fayaz	faigan, fayan
	imperfect	fese	feses	fese	fesenos	fesez	fesen
imperative		—	tú	—	—	vusatros vusatras	—
imperative		—	fé	—	—	fez	—

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin facere.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfe]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfeɾ]

Verb

fer (first-person singular present faig, first-person singular preterite fiu, past participle fet)

to make, produce
Fer vinagre. ― To make vinegar.

Aquesta terra fa molt bon blat. ― This land produces very good wheat.

Quatre i quatre fan vuit. ― Four and four make eight.

Fer d'un enemic un aliat. ― To turn an enemy into an ally.

Fer olor de roses. ― To smell of rose.

Fer pudor de porcs. ― To stink of pig.

(idiomatic) Fer bondat ― to behave, to comply with one's duty (an idiom, literally to make goodness)

(idiomatic) Fer figa ― to fail to achieve an expected result (an idiom, literally to make fig)
to make up
Els jubilats fan un quart de la població. ― Retired people make up a quarter of the population.
to do, to cause to be done
to make do
to give
El primer marit li va fer dos fills. ― Her first husband gave her two sons.

Feu-me mig quilo de formatge. ― Give me half a kilo of cheese.

Fes-me un petó! ― Kiss me!
to lay
La canària ha fet un ou. ― The canary has laid an egg.
to cause
(auxiliary) to make (someone) (do something), that is auxiliary verb to form the causative together with an infinitive
em van fer tornar a buscar el rebut ― they made me go back to get the receipt

l'has feta plorar ― you made her cry
to go
(impersonal, of weather) to be
Fa fred! ― It is cold!

Fa calor! ― It is hot!

Fa vent! ― It is windy!
to play
to measure

Conjugation

Conjugation of fer (second conjugation, irregular)

person		singular			plural
infinitive			fer
gerund			fent
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		fet		feta
		plural		fets		fetes
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	faig	fas	fa	fem	feu	fan
	imperfect	feia	feies	feia	fèiem	fèieu	feien
	future	faré	faràs	farà	farem	fareu	faran
	preterite	fiu	feres	feu	férem	féreu	feren
	conditional	faria	faries	faria	faríem	faríeu	farien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	faci	facis	faci	fem	feu	facin
	imperfect	fes	fessis	fes	féssim	féssiu	fessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	fes	faci	fem	feu	facin
	negative (no)	—	no facis	no faci	no fem	no feu	no facin

Balearic uses fais for the second person plural form in the present indicative instead of feu.

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin ferus (compare Occitan fèr, French fier, Spanish fiero), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈfer]
IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈfe]
IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfeɾ]

Adjective

fer (feminine fera, masculine plural fers, feminine plural feres)

wild (untamed, not domesticated)

Derived terms

Related terms

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /feːɹ/
Homophone: ferð

Verb

fer

third-person singular present of fara

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French fer, from Old French fer, from Latin ferrum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛʁ/
Audio: (file)
Homophones: fers, faire

Noun

fer m (plural fers)

iron
horseshoe; steel tip
(golf) iron
iron (appliance)
(in the plural, archaic) irons, fetters

Derived terms

Descendants

Antillean Creole: fè
Haitian Creole: fè
Karipúna Creole French: fé
Louisiana Creole: fèr, fè

Hunsrik

Etymology

Compare Pennsylvania German fer, German für and English for.

Preposition

fer

for

Icelandic

Verb

fer

inflection of fara:
1. first-person singular present indicative
2. third-person singular present indicative

Latin

Verb

fer

first-person singular present active subjunctive of for
second-person singular present active imperative of ferō

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish fer, from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛr/

Noun

fer m (plural fir)

man
Cha nel mee lowal rish y fer aeg shen. ― I do not approve of that young man.
one (modified by an adjective or demonstrative, referring to an object or animal)
Ta fer jiarg aym. ― I have a red one [e.g. chair].

Ta mee fakin kiare fir ghlassey. ― I see four green ones [e.g. birds].

By vie lhiam yn fer shen. ― I would like that one [e.g. toy].
used as a dummy noun to support a number, referring to a person, object or animal
Ta fer ennagh ayns shoh laccal dy akin oo. ― There's a fellow here who wants to see you.

Ta fer aym. ― I have one [e.g. chair].

Ta mee fakin kiare fir. ― I see four [e.g. birds].

Synonyms

dooinney

Derived terms

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
fer	er	ver
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fer”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French faire.

Verb

fer (medial form fer)

To make
To do

Derived terms

kifer

Middle English

Alternative forms

feor, for, fur, feer, ver, veir, far

Etymology

From Old English feorr, from Proto-Germanic *ferrai.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛr/

Adjective

fer

far, distant
- a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “General Prologue”, in The Canterbury Tales, line 493:
  Wide was hys pariſſhe, & houſes ferre a ſondre […]
  Wide was his parish, and houses far asunder […]

Derived terms

Descendants

English: far
Scots: faur
Yola: var

References

“fer, adj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French fer.

Noun

fer m (plural fers)

iron (metal)
(by extension) (iron) sword

Descendants

French: fer (see there for further descendants)

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish fer, from Primitive Irish *ᚃᚔᚏᚐᚄ (*viras), from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɸʲer/

Noun

fer m (genitive fir, nominative plural fir)

man
- c. 1000, anonymous author, edited by Rudolf Thurneysen, Scéla Mucca Meic Dathó, Dublin: Stationery Office, published 1935, § 1, page 2, line 13:
  In fer no·t⟨h⟩ēged iarsint ṡligi do·bered in n-aēl isin coiri, ocus a·taibred din chētgabāil, iss ed no·ithed.
  Each man who came along the way would put the flesh-fork into the cauldron, and whatever he got at the first taking, it was that which he ate. (literally, “The man who…”)

Derived terms

ferchuitred

Descendants

Irish: fear
Manx: fer
Scottish Gaelic: fear

Mutation

Mutation of *fer*
radical	lenition	nasalization
fer	ḟer	fer pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Norman

Norman Wikipedia has an article on:

nrf:fé

Wikipedia ^nrf

Alternative forms

faer (Guernsey)
fé (France, Jersey)

Etymology

From Old French fer, from Latin ferrum.

Noun

fer m (uncountable)

(Sark) iron

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

fer

present of fara

Occitan

Verb

fer

Alternative form of faire

Conjugation

Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		fer			aver fach
gerund		fasent			*use gerund of aver* + past participle**
past participle		fach			—
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	fau	fas	fa	fasèm	fasètz	fan
	imperfect	fasiái	fasiás	fasiá	fasiam	fasiatz	fasián
	preterite	farai	faràs	farà	farem	faretz	faràn
	future	faguèri	faguères	faguèt	faguèrem	faguèretz	faguèron
	conditional	fariái	fariás	fariá	fariam	fariatz	farián
	conditional 2nd form¹
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	faga	fagas	faga	fagam	fagatz	fagan
	imperfect	faguèsse	faguèsses	faguèsse	faguèssem	faguèssetz	faguèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
compound tenses	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
imperative			fai		fagam	fasètz	¹Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /feːr/

Verb

fēr

singular imperative of fēran

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin ferrum.

Noun

fer oblique singular, m (oblique plural fers, nominative singular fers, nominative plural fer)

iron (metal)
(by extension) sword (made of iron)

Descendants

Middle French: fer
- French: fer (see there for further descendants)
Norman: fé (France, Jersey), faer (Guernsey), fer (Sark)
Walloon: fier

Etymology 2

From Latin ferum, accusative of ferus (“wild”).

Adjective

fer m (oblique and nominative feminine singular fere)

cruel; harsh
fierce; ferocious
- c. 1120, Philippe de Taon, Bestiaire:
  Quatre pez ad la beste, e mult est de fer estre
  Four feet has the beast, and it is of a very ferocious nature

Declension

	Case	masculine	feminine	neuter
singular	subject	fers	fere	fer
singular	oblique	fer	fere		fere	fer
plural	subject	fer	feres		fer
plural	oblique	fers	feres		feres	fer

Alternative forms

fier

Descendants

Middle French: fier
- French: fier
→ Middle English: fer
- English: fere
→ Middle English: fers (from the nominative singular fers)
- English: fierce
- Yola: fearse

References

Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (fier)
fer on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Old High German

Etymology

From West Proto-Germanic *ferrai, whence also Old English feorr.

Adjective

fer

remote

Adverb

fer

far

References

Braune, Wilhelm. Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, zusammengestellt und mit Glossar versehen

Old Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɸʲer]

Etymology 1

From Primitive Irish *ᚃᚔᚏᚐᚄ (*viras), from Proto-Celtic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognates include Latin vir, Sanskrit वीर (vīrá) and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂 (wair).

Noun

fer m (genitive fir, nominative plural fir)

man
husband
- c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 22^c10
  Is bés trá dosom aní-siu cosc inna mban i tossug et a tabairt fo chumacte a feir, armbat irlamu de ind ḟir fo chumacte Dǽi, co·mbí íarum coscitir ind ḟir et do·airbertar fo réir Dǽ.
  This, then, is a custom of his, to correct the wives at first and to bring them under the power of their husbands, so that the husbands may be the readier under God’s power, so that afterwards the husbands are corrected and bowed down in subjection to God.

Declension

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	fer	fer^L	fir^L
Vocative	fir	fer^L	firu^H
Accusative	fer^N	fer^L	firu^H
Genitive	fir^L	fer	fer^N
Dative	fiur^L	feraib	feraib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: ^H = triggers aspiration ^L = triggers lenition ^N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

oínḟer

Descendants

Middle Irish: fer
- Irish: fear
- Manx: fer
- Scottish Gaelic: fear

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

fer

second-person singular imperative of feraid

·fer

third-person singular preterite conjunct of feraid

Mutation

Mutation of *fer*
radical	lenition	nasalization
fer	ḟer	fer pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Norse

Verb

fer

first-person singular present active indicative of fara

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

ferr, ferro

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛr/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ferro, an old comparative form.

Adverb

fer

far

Descendants

Middle Low German: verre

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *ferro.

Adjective

fer

far

Declension

Declension of fer

Strong declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	fer	ferre	fer	ferru	fer	ferre
accusative	ferrana	ferre	fer	ferru	ferra	ferre
genitive	ferres	ferrarō	ferres	ferrarō	ferraro	ferrarō
dative	ferrumu	ferrum	ferrumu	ferrum	ferraro	ferrum

Weak declension
gender	masculine		neuter		feminine
case	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
nominative	ferro	ferru	ferra	ferru	ferra	ferru
accusative	ferrun	ferrun	ferra	ferrun	ferrun	ferrun
genitive	ferrun	ferronō	ferrun	ferronō	ferrun	ferronō
dative	ferrun	ferrum	ferrun	ferrum	ferrun	ferrum

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German für, Dutch voor, English for, Hunsrik fer.

Preposition

fer

for

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fɛr/

Noun

fer m

iron

Romanian

Noun

fer n (plural feare)

Alternative form of fier

Declension

	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
	singular		plural
nominative-accusative	fer	ferul	feare	fearele
genitive-dative	fer	ferului	feare	fearelor
vocative	ferule		fearelor

Romansch

Verb

fer (Puter)

Alternative form of far (“to do; to make”)

Scots

Alternative forms

fere, ferr

Pronunciation

(Hawick) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛr/

Adjective

fer (comparative ferther, superlative ferthest)

(Southern Scots) far

Derived terms

fer ahint
fer away
fer ben
ferness (“farness”)
ferrer (“farther”)
ferrest (“farthest”)
fer sichty (“far-sighted”)
ferther (“farther”)
ferthest (“farthest”)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English fair.

Adjective

fer (Cyrillic spelling фер)

fair

Adverb

fer (Cyrillic spelling фер)

fairly

Spanish

Verb

fer

Obsolete spelling of hacer.

Conjugation

Conjugation of fer (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

		singular			plural
infinitive			fer
gerund			fiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		fido		fida
		plural		fidos		fidas
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	fo	fes	fe	femos	feis	fen
	imperfect	fía	fías	fía	fíamos	fíais	fían
	preterite	fi	fiste	fio	fimos	fisteis	fieron
	future	feré	ferás	ferá	feremos	feréis	ferán
	conditional	fería	ferías	fería	feríamos	feríais	ferían

subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	fa	fas	fa	famos	fais	fan
	imperfect (ra)	fiera	fieras	fiera	fiéramos	fierais	fieran
	imperfect (se)	fiese	fieses	fiese	fiésemos	fieseis	fiesen
	future¹	fiere	fieres	fiere	fiéremos	fiereis	fieren

imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		fe	fa	famos	fed	fan
	negative		no fas	no fa	no famos	no fais	no fan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.

Selected combined forms of fer

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive fer	dative	ferme	ferte	ferle, ferse	fernos	feros	ferles, ferse
with infinitive fer	accusative	ferme	ferte	ferlo, ferla, ferse	fernos	feros	ferlos, ferlas, ferse

with gerund fiendo	dative	fiéndome	fiéndote	fiéndole, fiéndose	fiéndonos	fiéndoos	fiéndoles, fiéndose
with gerund fiendo	accusative	fiéndome	fiéndote	fiéndolo, fiéndola, fiéndose	fiéndonos	fiéndoos	fiéndolos, fiéndolas, fiéndose

with informal second-person singular tú/vos imperative fe	dative	feme	fete	fele	fenos	not used	feles
with informal second-person singular tú/vos imperative fe	accusative	feme	fete	felo, fela	fenos	not used	felos, felas

with formal second-person singular imperative fa	dative	fame	not used	fale, fase	fanos	not used	fales
with formal second-person singular imperative fa	accusative	fame	not used	falo, fala, fase	fanos	not used	falos, falas

with first-person plural imperative famos	dative	not used	fámoste	fámosle	fámonos	fámoos	fámosles
with first-person plural imperative famos	accusative	not used	fámoste	fámoslo, fámosla	fámonos	fámoos	fámoslos, fámoslas

with informal second-person plural imperative fed	dative	fedme	not used	fedle	fednos	feos	fedles
with informal second-person plural imperative fed	accusative	fedme	not used	fedlo, fedla	fednos	feos	fedlos, fedlas

with formal second-person plural imperative fan	dative	fanme	not used	fanle	fannos	not used	fanles, fanse
with formal second-person plural imperative fan	accusative	fanme	not used	fanlo, fanla	fannos	not used	fanlos, fanlas, fanse

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vɛr/
Rhymes: -ɛr

Adjective

fer

Soft mutation of ber (“short”).

Mutation

Mutated forms of *ber*
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
ber	fer	mer	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

English

Pronunciation

Preposition

Derived terms

See also

References

Anagrams

Aragonese

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Catalan

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Faroese

Pronunciation

Verb

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

Hunsrik

Etymology

Preposition

Further reading

Icelandic

Verb

Latin

Verb

Manx

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Mutation

References

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

Verb

Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Middle French

Etymology

Noun

Descendants

Middle Irish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Mutation

Further reading

Norman

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb