ferae naturae

See also: feræ naturæ

English

Alternative forms

• feræ naturæ (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin ferus and natura, therefore meaning 'of a wild nature'.

Noun

ferae naturae pl (plural only)

1. Undomesticated animals; wild beasts.
   • 1597, Decision in Boulston's case, as quoted in Ronald Coase, "The Problem of Social Cost", 1960:

     So soon as the coneys come on his neighbor's land he may kill them, for they are ferae naturae, and he who makes the coney-boroughs has no property in them, and he shall not be punished for the damage which the coneys do in which he has no property, and which the other may lawfully kill.

   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. IV, letter 71:

     But I am not muzzled yet: they shall find me one of the feræ naturæ.

Antonyms

• domitae naturae