fever

See also: Fever

English

Alternative forms

• feaver, fevre (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From Middle English fever, fevere, from Old English fefer, fefor (“fever”), from Latin febris (“a fever”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”). Replaced native Old English hriþ (“fever”). Compare also Saterland Frisian Fiewer, German Fieber, Danish feber, Swedish feber.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfiːvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfivɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːvə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: fe‧ver

Noun

fever (countable and uncountable, plural fevers)

1. A higher than normal body temperature of a person (or, generally, a mammal), usually caused by disease.

   "I have a fever. I think I've the flu."

2. (usually in combination with one or more preceding words) Any of various diseases.

   scarlet fever

3. A state of excitement or anxiety.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     an envious fever

   • 1996 March 15, Mirsky, Jonathan, “Taiwan President visits islanders to bolster morale”, in The Times‎^[1], number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 15, column 3:

     There is little doubt that while war fever has not gripped Taipei, its economic foundations are being shaken. The stock market rose yesterday, but only because the Government has pumped $1.5 billion (£1 billion) into it after $370 million was drained from banks, and stocks were sold by investors who are worried by the Chinese manoeuvres.

4. (neologism) A group of stingrays.
   • 2011, Julianne Schultz, editor, Griffith REVIEW 34: The Annual Fiction Edition:

     On the way back to the mainland the boat passed over a fever of stingrays, and the sight of them through the glass was enough to colour everything else, and outstrip it.

   • 2020, Lindsay Illich, “sea turtle”, in rile & heave (everything reminds me of you): Poems:

     They move like thoughts, like memory, like a Wes Anderson diorama of earthly delights: lionfish, an albacore, a fever of stingrays—and then like a wound, a sea turtle at eye level.

   • 2020, Sarah Elizabeth, Secrets of the Past: Ocean Academy Year 1:

     She threw up her hands in excitement and the ball of water flew right into the pathway of the fever of stingrays.

Synonyms

• (higher than normal body temperature): high temperature, pyrexia (medical term), temperature
• (state of excitement): excitation, excitement, passion

Hyponyms

• abortus fever
• absorption fever
• acclimating fever
• Aden fever
• adynamic fever
• aestivoautumnal fever
• African Coast fever
• algid pernicious fever
• aphthous fever
• ardent fever
• arthropod-borne fever
• artificial fever
• aseptic fever
• Assam fever
• ataxic fever
• autumn fever
• barrel fever
• Bay fever
• beaver fever
• benign tertian fever
• biduoterian fever
• biliary fever
• bilious fever
• black fever
• black fly fever
• blackwater fever
• blue fever
• bouquet fever
• boutonneuse fever
• bovine epizootic fever
• brain fever
• brass founder's fever
• brassfounder's fever
• Brazilian purpuric fever
• breakbone fever
• buck fever
• Bullis fever
• bullous fever
• Bunyamwera fever
• Burdwan fever
• Bwamba fever
• cabin fever
• cachectic fever
• cachexial fever
• camp fever
• cane-cutter fever
• canefield fever
• cane-field fever
• canicola fever
• Cape Horn fever
• Carrión's fever
• Carter's fever
• catarrhal fever
• cat-bite fever
• cat fever
• catheter fever
• cat-scratch fever
• central fever
• cerebro-spinal fever
• cerebrospinal fever
• Chagres fever
• channel fever
• Charcot's fever
• chikungunya fever
• childbed fever
• childbirth fever
• Choix fever
• congestive fever
• Congolian red fever
• Congo red fever
• continued fever
• continuous fever
• cotton fever
• cotton-mill fever
• country fever
• Crimean fever
• Cyprus fever
• dance fever
• dandy fever
• date fever
• deer fly fever
• dehydration fever
• dengue fever
• desert fever
• diary fever
• digestive fever
• diphasic milk fever
• disfever
• dock fever
• double quotidian fever
• drug fever
• duck fever
• dumdum fever
• Dutch type periodic fever
• East Coast fever
• Ebola fever
• Ebola virus fever
• elephantoid fever
• Elokomin fluke fever
• English fever
• enteric fever
• entericoid fever
• entrance fever
• ephemeral fever
• epimastical fever
• eruptive fever
• essential fever
• estivoautumnal fever
• exanthematous fever
• exsiccation fever
• falciparum fever
• familial Hibernian fever
• familial periodic fever
• famine fever
• farrowing fever
• fatigue fever
• field fever
• five-day fever
• flood fever
• fog fever
• food fever
• Fort Bragg fever
• foundryman's fever
• Gambian fever
• gaol fever
• gastric fever
• Gibraltar fever
• glandular fever
• gold fever
• grain fever
• green fever
• haematuric bilious fever
• haemoglobinuric fever
• haemorrhagic fever
• Hankow fever
• harvest fever
• Hasami fever
• Haverhill fever
• hay fever
• hectic fever
• hematuric bilious fever
• hemoglobinuric fever
• hemorrhagic fever
• hempen fever
• hepatic intermittent fever
• herpetic fever
• horse sickness fever
• hospital fever
• humidifier fever
• Ilheus fever
• inanition fever
• induced fever
• inflammatory fever
• intermittent fever
• inundation fever
• island fever
• Jaccoud's dissociated fever
• jail fever
• Japanese flood fever
• Japanese river fever
• jungle fever
• jungle yellow fever
• Junin fever
• Katayama fever
• Kedani fever
• Kenya fever
• Kew Gardens fever
• Kinkiang fever
• Korin fever
• Lábrea fever
• Lábrea's black fever
• land fever
• Lassa fever
• laurel fever
• Lazaret fever
• lechuguilla fever
• Lombard fever
• Lone Star fever
• lung fever
• malarial fever
• malignant tertian fever
• Malta fever
• Manchurian fever
• Marseilles fever
• marsh fever
• Mediterranean coast fever
• Mediterranean erythematous fever
• Mediterranean exanthematous fever
• Mediterranean fever
• meningotyphoid fever
• metal fume fever
• Meuse fever
• Mexican fever
• Mianeh fever
• miliary fever
• milk fever
• mill fever
• Monday fever
• monoleptic fever
• Mossman fever
• mountain fever
• mud fever
• mumu fever
• Murchison-Pel-Ebstein fever
• Murchison-Sanderson fever
• nanukayami fever
• Neapolitan fever
• nervous fever
• nine mile fever
• nodal fever
• o'nyong-nyong fever
• Oropouche fever
• Oroya fever
• paludal fever
• papataci fever
• papatasi fever
• pappataci fever
• papular fever
• paratyphoid fever
• parenteric fever
• parrot fever
• parturient fever
• Pel-Ebstein fever
• periodic fever
• petechial fever
• pharyngoconjunctival fever
• phlebotomus fever
• pinta fever
• pituitous fever
• polka fever
• polyleptic fever
• polymer fume fever
• Pomona fever
• Pontiac fever
• Potomac fever
• Potomac horse fever
• pretibial fever
• prison fever
• prison fever typhus
• protein fever
• puerperal fever
• puking fever
• purple fever
• putrid fever
• Pym fever
• Pym's fever
• pyogenic fever
• Q fever
• query fever
• rabbit fever
• ratbite fever
• rat-bite fever
• recrudescent typhus fever
• recurrent fever
• recurring fever
• red fever
• redwater fever
• relapsing fever
• remittent fever
• rheumatic fever
• Rhodesian fever
• rice-field fever
• Rock fever
• rock fever
• Roman fever
• rose fever
• Ross River fever
• rotanny fever
• run a fever
• sakushu fever
• Salinem fever
• salt fever
• sandfly fever
• sand-fly fever
• Santa Marta fever
• São Paulo fever
• scarlet fever
• Schamberg fever
• Schottmüller's fever
• secondary fever
• Sennetsu fever
• septic fever
• Shar Pei fever
• shin bone fever
• ship fever
• shipping fever
• shoddy fever
• Sindbis fever
• slime fever
• slow fever
• smelter's fever
• snail fever
• solar fever
• Songo fever
• spelter's fever
• spirillary fever
• spirillum fever
• splenic fever
• spotted fever
• spottled fever
• spring fever
• steroid fever
• sthenic fever
• stockyards fever
• stranger's fever
• streptobacillary fever
• summer fever
• sun fever
• suppurative fever
• surgical fever
• swamp fever
• swine fever
• symptomatic fever
• syphilitic fever
• Texas cattle fever
• Texas fever
• therapeutic fever
• thermic fever
• thirst fever
• three-day fever
• threshing fever
• tick-bite fever
• tick-borne fever
• tick fever
• Tobia fever
• traumatic fever
• trench fever
• trypanosome fever
• tsutsugamushi fever
• typhoid fever
• typhus fever
• undifferentiated type fever
• undulant fever
• undulating fever
• upgrade fever
• urethral fever
• urinary fever
• urticarial fever
• uveoparotid fever
• valley fever
• verruga fever
• vivax fever
• war fever
• Wesselsbron fever
• West African fever
• West Nile fever
• Whitmore's fever
• winter fever
• Wolhynia fever
• womb fever
• worm fever
• wound fever
• yellow fever
• Zika fever
• zinc fume fever

 

Derived terms

some unsorted, may be hyponyms

• 7-day fever
• African swine fever virus
• baby fever
• Bieber fever
• Botany Bay fever
• bovine ephemeral fever
• bovine infectious petechial fever
• bovine malignant catarrhal fever
• bovine petechial fever
• brain fever
• brain-fever
• buck fever
• Bulam fever
• camp fever
• cat scratch fever
• cedar fever
• Charcot intermittent fever
• Charcot's intermittent fever
• drain fever
• enfever
• familial Mediterranean fever
• feverable
• fever-bark
• fever-blister
• fever bush
• fever-chart
• fever clinic
• fever coat
• fever-cooling
• fever dream
• fevered
• feveress
• feveret
• fever-fly
• fever fog
• fever-heat
• fever-hectic
• feverish
• feverite
• feverless
• fever-lurdan
• fever-lurden
• fever-lurgan
• fever-lurk
• feverly
• fever-nut
• feverous
• fever pitch
• fever-pitched
• fever-powder
• fever-ridden
• feverroot
• fever-sick
• fever-sore
• fever swamp
• fever-swamp
• fever-trap
• fever-tree
• fever-twig
• fever-weakened
• fever-weed
• fever-wood
• feverwort
• fevery
• gaol-fever
• gate fever
• go fever
• gold fever
• hay-fever
• hay fever
• hog-fever
• hog fever
• hospital fever
• I have a fever
• jail fever
• jungle fever
• Karelian fever
• ladies' fever
• lazaret fever
• low-grade fever
• lunar hay fever
• maculated fever
• malignant catarrhal fever
• maple fever
• Marburg fever
• Marburg hemorrhagic fever
• marsh fever
• milk fever
• miniature scarlet fever
• monkey fever
• Ohara's fever
• pageant fever
• Pfeiffer's glandular fever
• pink-fever
• prison fever
• putrid fever
• quintan fever
• rash fever
• Rhodesian redwater fever
• Rift Valley fever
• Rocky Mountain fever
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• rose fever
• San Joaquin fever
• San Joaquin Valley fever
• severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome
• ship fever
• ship-fever
• Spanish fever
• stage fever
• summit fever
• sun-fever
• swine fever
• terai fever
• thunder fever
• white line fever

 

Related terms

• feed a cold, starve a fever
• fever ague
• fever and ague
• fever blister
• fever bush
• fever grass
• fever lent
• fever of unknown origin
• fever pitch
• fever powder
• fever ring
• Fever River
• fever root
• fever sore
• fever therapy
• fever thermometer
• fever treatment
• fever tree
• fever twig
• Foshay-Mollaret cat-scratch fever syndrome

 

Related terms

• fervent
• fervid
• fervor

Translations

higher than normal body temperature

• Albanian: ethe (sq) f
• Amharic: ትኩሳት (təkusat)
• Arabic: حُمَّة‎ f (ḥumma), حُمَّى‎ f (ḥummā)

  Egyptian Arabic: حمة‎ f (ḥumma)

  Hijazi Arabic: حرارة‎ f (ḥarāra)

  Moroccan Arabic: سخانة‎ f (sḵāna)

• Armenian: տենդ (hy) (tend), տաքություն (hy) (takʿutʿyun), ջերմություն (hy) (ǰermutʿyun), կրակ (hy) (krak) (figuratively)
• Aromanian: heavrã f
• Assamese: জ্বৰ (zor)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܲܡܚܲܡܬܵܐ‎ f (ḥamḥamtā)
• Asturian: fiebre f
• Azerbaijani: qızdırma
• Basque: sukar
• Belarusian: тэмперату́ра (be) f (tempjeratúra), гара́чка f (haráčka), жар m (žar), ліхама́нка f (lixamánka)
• Bengali: জ্বর (jor)
• Berber:

  Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵡⵍⴰ f (tawla)

• Bikol Central: kalentura (bcl)
• Bulgarian: температу́ра (bg) f (temperatúra), тре́ска (bg) f (tréska)
• Burmese: အဖျား (my) (a.hpya:)
• Catalan: febre (ca) f
• Cebuano: hilanat, kalentura
• Chakma: 𑄎𑄧𑄢𑄴 (jar)
• Chamicuro: alijkwa'takochi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 發熱／发热 (zh) (fārè), 發燒／发烧 (zh) (fāshāo) (verb; "to have a fever"), 熱病／热病 (zh) (rèbìng), 熱病／热病 (zh) (rèbìng)

• Classical Nahuatl: tletl
• Czech: horečka (cs) f
• Danish: feber (da) c
• Dutch: verhoging (nl) f, koorts (nl) f
• Egyptian: (šmmt f)
• Esperanto: febro
• Estonian: palavik (et)
• Faroese: fepur m
• Finnish: kuume (fi)
• French: fièvre (fr) f
• Friulian: fiere f
• Galician: febre f, quentura f
• Georgian: სიცხე (sicxe), ციებ-ცხელება (cieb-cxeleba), ტემპერატურა (ṭemṗeraṭura)
• German: Fieber (de) n, Temperaturerhöhung f
• Gothic: 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐍉 f (brinnō), 𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍄𐍉 f (heitō)
• Greek: πυρετός (el) m (pyretós)

  Ancient: πυρετός m (puretós)

• Guaraní: akãnundu
• Gujarati: તાવ m (tāv)
• Hebrew: קַדַּחַת‎ (he) f (kadákhat)
• Hindi: बुख़ार (hi) m (buxār), ज्वर (hi) m (jvar)
• Hungarian: (above 37.8°C or 100°F) láz (hu), (moderate fever, 36.8–37.8°C or 98.2–100°F) hőemelkedés (hu)
• Icelandic: hiti (is) m, hitasótt f
• Indonesian: demam (id)
• Interlingua: febre
• Irish: fiabhras m
• Isnag: daxang
• Italian: febbre (it) f
• Japanese: 熱 (ja) (ねつ, netsu), 発熱 (ja) (はつねつ, hatsunetsu)
• Kazakh: қызба (qyzba)
• Khmer: គ្រុន (km) (krun)
• Korean: 열(熱) (ko) (yeol), 열병(熱病) (ko) (yeolbyeong), 발열(發熱) (ko) (baryeol)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: تا‎ (ckb) (ta)

  Northern Kurdish: ta (ku) f, tasar (ku) f, tagerm (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: калтыратма (ky) (kaltıratma), безгек (ky) (bezgek)
• Ladin: fiëura f
• Lao: ໄຂ້ (lo) (khai)
• Latin: febris (la) f
• Latvian: drudzis m
• Lithuanian: karščiavimas m
• Lü: ᦺᦃᧉ (ẋay²)
• Macedonian: треска f (treska)
• Malay: demam (ms)
• Maore Comorian: ɓuhuo class 5/6
• Navajo: tahoniigááh
• Nepali: ज्वरो (jvaro)
• Norman: fièvre f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feber (no) m

• Occitan: fèbre (oc)
• Old English: hriþ
• Pali: pariḷāha m, jararoga m
• Pashto: تبه‎ (ps) f (tᶕba)
• Persian: تب‎ (fa) (tab)
• Punjabi: ਤਾਪ (pa) m (tāp), ਬੁਖ਼ਾਰ (pa) m (buxār)
• Plautdietsch: Feeba n, Braunt n
• Polish: gorączka (pl) f, temperatura (pl) f
• Portuguese: febre (pt) f
• Quechua: rupha
• Romanian: temperatură (ro) f, febră (ro) f
• Romansch: fevra f, feavra f, feivra f
• Russian: температу́ра (ru) f (temperatúra), лихора́дка (ru) f (lixorádka), горя́чка (ru) f (gorjáčka), жар (ru) m (žar)
• Sanskrit: ज्वर (sa) m (jvara)
• Sardinian: calentura f, callantura f
• Scottish Gaelic: fiabhras m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: гро̀зница f

  Roman: gròznica (sh) f

• Sicilian: frevi (scn)
• Slovak: horúčka (sk) f
• Slovene: vročina (sl) f
• Somali: qandho
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zymnica f

• Spanish: fiebre (es) f, calentura (es) f
• Sumerian: 𒌓 (/ud/)
• Swahili: (class 9/10) homa (sw), harara (sw)
• Swedish: feber (sv) c
• Tagalog: lagnat (tl)
• Tamil: காய்ச்சல் (ta) (kāyccal), ஜுரம் (ta) (juram), ஜ்வரம் (jvaram)
• Tajik: таб (tab), табларза (tablarza)
• Tausug: hinglaw
• Telugu: జ్వరము (te) (jvaramu), వేకి (te) (vēki), పులకరము (te) (pulakaramu)
• Thai: ไข้ (th) (kâi)
• Tigrinya: ምርባጽ (mərbaṣ)
• Turkish: ateş (tr)
• Turkmen: gyzzyrma
• Ukrainian: гаря́чка f (harjáčka), лихома́нка f (lyxománka), температу́ра f (temperatúra) (colloquial), жар m (žar), пропáсниця f (propásnycja)
• Urdu: بُخار‎ m (buxār)
• Uyghur: قىزىتما‎ (qizitma)
• Uzbek: isitma (uz), bezgak (uz)
• Venetian: fevra f, féra
• Vietnamese: sốt (vi)
• Volapük: fif (vo)
• Walloon: five (wa) f
• Welsh: twymyn, achre m
• Yakan: lemmun
• Yiddish: פֿיבער‎ m (fiber)

usually in combination: any of various diseases

• Armenian: տենդ (hy) (tend)
• Bulgarian: тре́ска (bg) f (tréska)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熱病／热病 (zh) (rèbìng), 病 (zh) (bìng)

• Finnish: -kuume (fi) (also -rokko, -nuha etc.)
• Greek: πυρετός (el) m (pyretós)
• Hebrew: קַדַּחַת‎ (he) f (kadákhat)
• Hungarian: láz (hu)
• Navajo: tahoniigááh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feber (no) m

• Polish: gorączka (pl) f
• Russian: лихора́дка (ru) f (lixorádka), горя́чка (ru) f (gorjáčka)
• Scottish Gaelic: fiabhras m
• Sicilian: frevi (scn) f, malatìa (scn) f
• Swahili: homa (sw)
• Swedish: feber (sv) c
• Ukrainian: лихома́нка f (lyxománka), пропа́сниця (uk) f (propásnycja)

state of excitement (of a person or people)

• Arabic: حَرَارَة‎ (ar) f (ḥarāra)
• Armenian: հուզմունք (hy) (huzmunkʿ)
• Belarusian: ліхама́нка f (lixamánka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狂熱／狂热 (zh) (kuángrè), 熱／热 (zh) (rè)

• Finnish: kuume (fi), huuma (fi), vimma (fi)
• Greek: πυρετός (el) m (pyretós)
• Hungarian: izgalom (hu), izgatottság (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feber (no) m

• Polish: gorączka (pl) f, podniecenie (pl) n
• Russian: жар (ru) m (žar), лихора́дка (ru) f (lixorádka), горя́чка (ru) f (gorjáčka)
• Sicilian: liscìa (scn) f, lisìa f, scìḍḍicu m, scipitirìa f
• Swahili: homa (sw)
• Swedish: feber (sv) c
• Ukrainian: лихома́нка f (lyxománka)

See also

• hyperthermia

Verb

fever (third-person singular simple present fevers, present participle fevering, simple past and past participle fevered)

1. To put into a fever; to affect with fever.

   a fevered lip

   • c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene xiii]:

     the white hand of a lady fever thee

2. To become fevered.

References

• fever on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• “fever”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “fever”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• fevre