ardor

English

WOTD – 18 September 2006, 18 September 2007

Alternative forms

• ardour (chiefly British and Canada)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-eh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *āzēō

Latin āreō

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.

Latin -idus

Latin āridus

Latin ārdus

▲

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *-ēō

Latin -eō

Latin ārdeō

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *-ōs

Proto-Italic *-ōs

Latin -or

Latin ārdorbor.

Old French ardur

Anglo-Norman ardourbor.

Middle English ardour

English ardor

From Middle English ardour, ardowr, ardure, from Anglo-Norman ardour, from Old French ardur, from Latin ardor, from ardere (“to burn”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːdə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑːɹdɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)də(ɹ)

Noun

ardor (countable and uncountable, plural ardors) (American spelling)

1. Great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion.
   • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 120:

     I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.

2. Spirit; enthusiasm; passion.
3. Intense heat.

Synonyms

• (warmth of feeling): intensity, flame
• (spirit): elan, fire in the belly, passion, zeal

Antonyms

• apathy

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂eHs- (0 c, 42 e)

Translations

great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion

• Belarusian: імпэт m (impet)
• Bulgarian: плам (bg) (plam), жар (bg) (žar), страст (bg) (strast), усърдие (bg) (usǎrdie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熱情 / 热情 (zh) (rèqíng)

• Czech: vášeň (cs) f, vroucnost f, zanícení n
• Esperanto: ardo (eo)
• Finnish: lämpö (fi), tunteen palo (warmth of feeling); into (fi), innostus (fi), innokkuus (fi) (fervor); into (fi), intohimo (fi) (passion)
• French: ardeur (fr) f, ferveur (fr) f
• German: Begeisterung (de) f, Feuereifer (de) m, Hitze (de) f, Überschwang (de) m
• Hungarian: lelkesedés (hu), hév (hu), szenvedély (hu)
• Italian: ardore (it) m, fervore (it)
• Japanese: 熱情 (ja) (ねつじょう, netsujō), 情熱 (ja) (じょうねつ, jōnetsu)
• Māori: mate kanehe
• Middle English: ardour
• Old English: ǣling f
• Portuguese: ardor (pt) m
• Romanian: ardoare (ro) f, înflăcărare (ro) f, pasiune (ro) f, ardență (ro) f
• Russian: пыл (ru) m (pyl), рве́ние (ru) n (rvénije), усе́рдие (ru) n (usérdije)
• Sanskrit: घृण (sa) m (ghṛṇa)
• Slovak: zápal (sk) m, zapálenie n, vrúcnosť f, horlivosť f
• Spanish: fervor (es) m, ardor (es) m
• Swedish: glöd (sv) c, iver (sv) c
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: حرارت (hararet)

spirit

• Czech: nadšení (cs) n, zápal (cs) m, vášeň (cs) f
• Danish: iver
• Lithuanian: užsidegimas m
• Portuguese: ardor (pt) m
• Romanian: ardoare (ro) f, pasiune (ro) f
• Russian: страсть (ru) f (strastʹ)
• Spanish: pasión (es) f
• Swedish: passion (sv) c
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: حرارت (hararet)

heat

• French: ardeur (fr) f
• Portuguese: ardor (pt) m
• Romanian: arșiță (ro) f, ferbințeală f
• Russian: жара́ (ru) f (žará), зной (ru) m (znoj), жар (ru) m (žar)
• Spanish: ardor (es) m
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: حرارت (hararet)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} ardeur (fr)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 熱意（ねつい, netsui）
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} dèine f, ^{(please verify)} dìoghras m
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} vatrenost (sh) f, ^{(please verify)} gorljivost (sh) f

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ərˈdo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [aɾˈðoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

ardor m (plural ardors)

1. heat
2. ardor, passion

Ladino

Etymology

From Old Spanish, from Latin ardor.

Noun

ardor m (Hebrew spelling ארדור)

1. ardor, passion

Latin

Etymology

From ārdeō +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaːr.dɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈar.dor]

Noun

ārdor m (genitive ārdōris); third declension

1. flame, fire, heat

   Synonym: calor

2. brightness, brilliancy (of the eyes)
3. ardour, eagerness, ardent desire

   Synonyms: cupīdō, vehementia, dēsīderium, appetītus, studium, impetus, amor, appetītiō, libīdō, alacritās

4. the object of ardent affection, love, flame

   Synonym: amor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ārdor	ārdōrēs
genitive	ārdōris	ārdōrum
dative	ārdōrī	ārdōribus
accusative	ārdōrem	ārdōrēs
ablative	ārdōre	ārdōribus
vocative	ārdor	ārdōrēs

Descendants

• English: ardor, ardour
• Catalan: ardor
• Old French: ardour, ardor, ardur f
  • > French: ardeur f (inherited)
• Galician: ardor
• Istriot: ardùr
• Italian: ardore
• Piedmontese: ardor
• Portuguese: ardor
• Romanian: ardoare
• Spanish: ardor

References

• “ardor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ardor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ardor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be dried up by the sun's heat: ardore solis torreri
    
  • enthusiasm: ardor, inflammatio animi, incitatio mentis, mentis vis incitatior
    
  • to damp, chill enthusiasm: ardorem animi restinguere
    
  • his enthusiasm has abated, cooled down: ardor animi resēdit, consedit
    

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, from Latin ārdōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁˈdoʁ/ [aɦˈdoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aʁˈdoʁ/ [aɦˈdoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /aɾˈdoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /aʁˈdoʁ/ [aʁˈdoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /aɻˈdoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾˈdoɾ/ [ɐɾˈðoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾˈdoɾ/ [ɐɾˈðoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐɾˈdo.ɾi/ [ɐɾˈðo.ɾi]

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: ar‧dor

Noun

ardor m (plural ardores)

1. burning sensation

   Synonym: queimação

2. ardor (warmth of feeling)
3. spirit; enthusiasm

   Synonym: entusiasmo

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:ardor.

Related terms

• ardência
• ardentemente
• arder
• ardido

Further reading

• “ardor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ardor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin ardōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɾˈdoɾ/ [aɾˈð̞oɾ]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: ar‧dor

Noun

ardor m (plural ardores)

1. ardor/ardour
2. fervor, heat

   Synonym: fervor

3. passion

   Synonym: pasión

4. burning (feeling)

   una sensación de ardor ― a burning sensation

5. eagerness

   Synonyms: avidez, ancia

Derived terms

• ardoroso

Related terms

• arder
• ardiente

Further reading

• “ardor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025