feral
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: lifestyle
Etymology: From Latin fera (“wild beast”, noun) + -al or Latin ferus (“wild; savage; cruel”, adjective) + -al. Alternatively, borrowed from Middle French féral or Late Latin ferālis.
Affixes: -al
Inflected forms:
form: more feral
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most feral
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: ferals
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
examples: 1876 Statistical, Descriptive, And Historical Account Of The North-Western Provinces Of India. Allahabad: North-Western Provinces' Government Press 1876. p XIV, Agra Division
The spotted deer, in a truly feral state, has very much the same distribution in Bundelkhand as the sambar, but it is more numerous.
Among the ensemble’s strange, outmoded, “original” instruments — the feral horns, sour violins, wooden flutes, cellos without endpins — she seemed right at home, despite her Broadway provenance.
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
examples: In this region, the wild boars can be dangerous, but (perhaps counterintuitively) the feral hogs can be even worse.
This subject has been ably treated by several authors, and I shall, in my future work, discuss some of the checks at considerable length, more especially in regard to the feral animals of South America.
The Guinea fowl has become thoroughly feral in Jamaica and in St. Domingo, and has diminished in size; the legs are black, whereas the legs of the aboriginal African bird are said to be grey. This small change is worth notice on account of the often-repeated statement that all feral animals invariably revert in every character to their original type.
It owes its existence to a feral culture of internet goblins who sentence-mixed the same few janky cutscenes for years.
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
examples: There were about fifty tables and the customers were packed in like black olives in a jar. It was hot and the air was thick with smoke and the sweet, feral smell of two hundred negro bodies.
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
examples: This consideration doth afford us no small light in conceiving and judging the manners and qualifications of persons, as hath been observed, that those that have impressions of grapes, or signals of vines on their bodies, are addicted to drunkenness, those who have resemblance on their bodies, or in their countenances of a boar, or any feral creature, participate in the same feral, wild and unmannerly deportment; those having any similitude of a hare, are fearful; of a fox, are cunning; of a wolf, cruel; and so of all other resemblances: and, as from these resemblances, the manners are conjectured, so likewise future events, and fortune good or bad, as shall be noted in due place. Nature is strange in many of her operations; but this is most certain, the party retains the qualities of that animal or thing to which he hath a resemblance.
Palmistry . . .The figure of a semicircle in the quadrangle of the hand, notes a feral shedder of human blood, an implacable merciless spirit....
Little puncts disorderly in the natural line, shew the worst of manners, and a feral beast-like nature.
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
tags: Internet
examples: Miners fans have been going absolutely feral over you, [and] you're also disgustingly talented. People want you to play for them! You had Canadians bitching about you being American born the first time you played for Team USA.
gloss: Wild; untamed.
pos: adj
tags: not-comparable
slang
gloss: A domesticated (non-human) animal that has returned to the wild; an animal, particularly a domesticated animal, living independently of humans.
pos: noun
examples: Although it is not difficult to induce domestic pigeons to nest in boxes fixed to trees, London′s ferals are not yet acclimatized to arboreal holes.
Traffic, abuse, inhumane traps, and accidental poisoning are other hazards ferals must face.[…]In England one gamekeeper claimed to have killed over three hundred ferals, while another brought home pelts to his wife so that she could design rugs from cat skins as a source of secondary income.
You trap ferals, neuter them, and give them their rabies shot. Maybe distemper.
If you′ve ever put a saucer of milk out for a hard-luck kitty, or if you′re spending your lunch hour sharing sandwiches with the ferals near your office, this is the chapter for you.
gloss: A contemptible young person, a lout, a person who behaves wildly.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
colloquial
gloss: A person who has isolated themselves from the outside world; one living an alternative lifestyle.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
colloquial
examples: The intolerance which was directed towards us during the early years has now shifted to ‘the ferals’ who embrace a new version of nonconformist behaviour that even some of us in their parent′s generation — the Aquarian settlers — don′t like. The ferals are the scapegoats for the drug problems here, and are highly visible since many of them have nowhere to live.
A pod of ferals was moving towards the exit, a half-dozen soap-shy, low-tech, bush-dwelling hippies.
It′s the rootlessness of the ferals that people don′t seem to trust; their claims of connectedness to all wild places touches a nerve. Even residents of Maydena who want to see the Florentine protected dislike the ratbags′ itinerancy.
gloss: A furry character in art or literature which has the appearance of a regular animal (typically quadrupedal), that may or may not be able to communicate with humans or "anthros".
pos: noun
tags: slang
examples: The story is about a group of ferals which have to explore the ruins of society after the humans die out.
Derived words: feral cat
feral child
ferality
feralization
feralize
ferally
feralness
feral pigeon
hyperferal
nonferal
semiferal
superferal
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: див
roman: div
lang: Bulgarian
word: неопитомен
roman: neopitomen
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 野生的
roman: yěshēng de
lang: Czech
word: zdivočelý
lang: Czech
word: divoký
lang: Dutch
word: verwilderd
lang: Dutch
word: wild
lang: Dutch
word: ongetemd
lang: Finnish
word: villi
lang: Finnish
word: villiintynyt
lang: French
word: féral
lang: French
word: marron
lang: French
word: haret
lang: Galician
word: bravo
lang: Galician
word: salvaxe
lang: Galician
word: asilvestrado
lang: Georgian
word: გაველურებული
roman: gavelurebuli
lang: German
word: wild
lang: German
word: verwildert
lang: Greek
word: άγριος
roman: ágrios
lang: Hungarian
word: elvadult
lang: Indonesian
word: jalang
lang: Indonesian
word: meliar
lang: Italian
word: selvaggio
lang: Italian
word: selvatico
lang: Japanese
word: 野生
roman: yasei
lang: Macedonian
word: див
roman: div
lang: Malay
word: feral
lang: Malay
word: jalang
lang: Māori
word: mohowao
lang: Persian
word: وحشی
roman: vahši
lang: Polabian
word: dai̯vĕ
lang: Polish
word: zdziczały
lang: Polish
word: dziki
lang: Portuguese
word: silvestre
lang: Romanian
word: sălbăticit
lang: Russian
word: ди́кий
roman: díkij
lang: Russian
word: одичавший
roman: odičavšij
lang: Spanish
word: ferino
lang: Spanish
word: feroz
lang: Spanish
word: fiero
lang: Spanish
word: cimarrón
lang: Spanish
word: montaraz
lang: Spanish
word: silvestre
lang: Spanish
word: feral (disused)
lang: Swedish
word: förvildad
lang: Thai
word: ดุร้าย
roman: dù ráai
lang: Thai
word: ไม่เชื่อง
roman: mâi chêuang
lang: Turkish
word: vahşi
lang: Turkish
word: yabani