The fervid wishes, holy fires.
Parnell.
-- Fer"vid*ly, adv. -- Fer"vid*ness, n.
Fer"vor (?), n. [Written also fervour.] [OF. fervor, fervour, F.
ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.] 1. Heat; excessive
warmth.
The fevor of ensuing day.
Waller.
2. Intensity of feeling or expression; glowing ardor; passion; holy
zeal; earnestness. Hooker.
Winged with fervor of her love.
Shak.
Syn. -- Fervor, Ardor. Fervor is a boiling heat, and ardor is a burning
heat. Hence, in metaphor, we commonly use fervor and its derivatives
when we conceive of thoughts or emotions under the image of ebullition,
or as pouring themselves forth. Thus we speak of the fervor of passion,
fervid declamation, fervid importunity, fervent supplication, fervent
desires, etc. Ardent is used when we think of anything as springing
from a deepseated glow of soul; as, ardent friendship, ardent zeal,
ardent devotedness; burning with ardor for the fight.
Fes"cen*nine (?), a. [L. Fescenninus, fr. Fescennia, a city of
Etruria.] Pertaining to, or resembling, the Fescennines. -- n. A style
of low, scurrilous, obscene poetry originating in fescennia.
Fes"cue (fs"k), n. [OE. festu, OF. festu, F. fÈtu, fr. L. festuca
stalk, straw.] 1. A straw, wire, stick, etc., used chiefly to point out
letters to children when learning to read. "Pedantic fescue." Sterne.
To come under the fescue of an imprimatur.
Milton.