[‘ Very fervid; ardent, impassioned.']
Pronunciation: Brit. /pəːˈfəːvɪd/, pəˈfəːvɪd, U.S. /ˌpərˈfərvɪd/
Etymology: < post-classical Latin /perfervidus/ (chiefly in the phrase perfervidum ingenium Scotorum the impassioned genius of the Scots, founded on G. Buchanan’s Scotorum praefervida ingenia (Rerum Scoticarum Historia (1582) xvi. li.)) < classical Latin /per-/ per- prefix + /fervidus/ fervid adj. Compare earlier praefervid adj.
Perfervidus, though quite regular in form, is not recorded in classical Latin; an instance of perfervida formerly cited from Columella 5. 5. 1 represents the reading of Gesner (Scriptores Rei Rusticae I. (1735)); the reading praefervida, proposed by Schneider (Scriptores Rei Rusticae III. (1829)), is probably to be preferred.
Very fervid; ardent, impassioned.
1833 /Foreign Q. Rev./ *11* 476 An ordinary invective against Austrian oppression, conceived and executed in the usual perfervid manner of Italian partizanship.
1852 /N. Brit. Rev./ Aug. 286 Without maintaining at present that all Scotchmen are perfervid..it will be enough to refer to the instances which prove at least that some Scotchmen have this character.
1884 /Harper’s Mag./ Dec. 115/2 With perfervid gratitude.
1935 A. F. Murison /Memoirs/ 145 Perfervid remonstrance came from all ends of the earth about the strictures I had made on the patriotism of Bruce.
1969 /Daily Tel./ 13 Nov. 9/2 An Israeli journalist whose exploits in bed are as perfervid as her patriotism.
1990 M. Martin /Keys of this Blood/ iii. x. 200 He passed rapidly from the undigested Judaism of his childhood into a short but perfervid period of Lutheranism.