Part 107

Christmas fern. See under Christmas. -- Climbing fern (Bot.), a delicate North American fern (Lygodium palmatum), which climbs several feet high over bushes, etc., and is much sought for purposes of decoration. -- Fern owl. (Zoˆl.) (a) The European goatsucker. (b) The short-eared owl. [Prov. Eng.] -- Fern shaw, a fern thicket. [Eng.] R. Browning.

Fern"er*y (?), n. A place for rearing ferns.

Fern"ti*cle (?), n. A freckle on the skin, resembling the seed of fern. [Prov. Eng.]

Fern"y (?), a. Abounding in ferns.

Fe*ro"cious (?), a. [L. ferox, -ocis, fierce: cf. F. fÈroce. See Ferocity.] Fierce; savage; wild; indicating cruelty; ravenous; rapacious; as, ferocious look or features; a ferocious lion.

The humbled power of a ferocious enemy.

Lowth.

Syn. -- Ferocious, Fierce, Savage, Barbarous. When these words are applied to human feelings or conduct, ferocious describes the disposition; fierce, the haste and violence of an act; barbarous, the coarseness and brutality by which it was marked; savage, the cruel and unfeeling spirit which it showed. A man is ferocious in his temper, fierce in his actions, barbarous in the manner of carrying out his purposes, savage in the spirit and feelings expressed in his words or deeds.

-- Fe*ro"cious*ly, adv. -- Fe*ro"cious*ness, n.

It [Christianity] has adapted the ferociousness of war.

Blair.

Fe*roc"i*ty (?), n. [L. ferocitas, fr. ferox, -ocis, fierce, kin to ferus wild: cf. F. ferocitÈ. See Fierce.] Savage wildness or fierceness; fury; cruelty; as, ferocity of countenance.

The pride and ferocity of a Highland chief.

Macaulay.

||Fer*o"her (?), n. (ArchÊol.) A symbol of the solar deity, found on ||monuments exhumed in Babylon, Nineveh, etc.

Fe"rous (?), a. [L. ferus. See Fierce.] Wild; savage. [R.] Arthur Wilson.

-fer*ous (?). [L. -fer. fr. ferre to bear. See Bear to support.] A suffix signifying bearing, producing, yielding; as, auriferous, yielding gold; chyliferous, producing chyle.

Fer*ran"dine (? or ?), n. [F.; cf. OF. ferrant iron-gray, from L. ferrum iron.] A stuff made of silk and wool.

I did buy a colored silk ferrandine.

Pepys.

Fer*ra"ra (?), n. A sword bearing the mark of one of the Ferrara family of Italy. These swords were highly esteemed in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Fer`ra*rese" (?), a. Pertaining to Ferrara, in Italy. -- n., sing. & pl. A citizen of Ferrara; collectively, the inhabitants of Ferrara.

Fer"ra*ry (?), n. [L. ferraria iron works. See Ferreous.] The art of working in iron. [Obs.] Chapman.

Fer"rate (?), n. [L. ferrum iron.] (Chem.) A salt of ferric acid.

{ Fer"re (?), Fer"rer (?), a. & adv. } Obs. compar. of Fer.

Fer"re*ous (?), a. [L. ferreus, fr. ferrum iron. Cf. Farrier, Ferrous.] Partaking of, made of, or pertaining to, iron; like iron. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Fer"rest (?), a. & adv. Obs. superl. of Fer. Chaucer.

Fer"ret (?), n. [F. furet, cf. LL. furo; prob. fr. L. fur thief (cf. Furtive); cf. Arm. fur wise, sly.] (Zoˆl.) An animal of the Weasel family (Mustela or Putorius furo), about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow or white color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe. Ferrets are used to drive rabbits and rats out of their holes.