Fwd: A.Word.A.Day--feral

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Dr.K C Raveendranathan

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May 1, 2014, 10:17:12 AM5/1/14

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A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. -Joseph Addison, writer (1672-1719)
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Prof.K.C.Raveendranathan Ph.D., LM ISTE, FIE, FIETE, SM IEEE, LM CSI, LM IRSS & C.Eng.
Principal, LBS Institute of Technology for Women Poojappura,
Thiruvananthapuram-695012.
Telefax: +91-471-2343395, +91-471-2371681(R).

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wordsmith <wsm...@wordsmith.org>
Date: Thu, May 1, 2014 at 9:38 AM
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--feral
To: ind...@ieee.org

Wordsmith.org

The Magic of Words

MooT - the Semantics and Etymology game
The world's toughest language game.
mootgame.com

May 1, 2014

This week's theme
Homonyms

This week's words
quiff
gird
mew
feral

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

feral

PRONUNCIATION:

(FEER-uhl, FAYR-)

MEANING:

adjective:	1. Wild or untamed.
	2. Having reverted from domestication to the wild state.
	3. Ferocious.
	4. Deadly.
	5. Relating to the dead; gloomy.

ETYMOLOGY:

For 1-3: From Latin fera (wild animal), from ferus (wild). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghwer- (wild beast), which also gave us fierce and theropod. Earliest documented use: 1604.
For 4-5: From Latin feralis (relating to funeral rites or the dead). Earliest documented use: 1621.

USAGE:

"The infamous beer-guzzling feral pig who died two months ago could get a plaque at a West Australian rest stop commemorating his unusual life."
Beer-Loving Feral Pig Could Get Plaque; Sky News Australia; Dec 2, 2013.

"Coffin wondered if the coyotes were congregating in the cemetery, waiting for full dark to sing their feral song."
Jon Loomis; High Season; Minotaur Books; 2007.

See more usage examples of feral in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. -Joseph Addison, writer (1672-1719)