English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin efferus (savage), from ex (intensifier) + ferus (wild).

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

efferous (comparative more efferous, superlative most efferous)

  1. (obsolete) Like a wild beast; fierce.
    • 1614, John King, Vitis Palatina:
      From the teeth of that efferous beast, from the tusk of the wild boar, – O Thou, that art the root and generation of David, preserve our root and all his generation.

Related terms edit

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for efferous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)