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What does "perfervid" mean in the following sentence?

Granted that most of us prefer lithographs, if not something more perfervid, I'm willing to grant that austerity in the garden has its place.

(Source: The fading English rose by Charles Elliott)

This word is not found in the OALD or in Wikipedia.

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Perfervid: "marked by overwrought or exaggerated emotion; excessively fervent" (Merriam-Webster); "Literary extremely ardent, enthusiastic, or zealous" (The Free Dictionary); "intense and impassioned" (Google). – RegDwighт♦ Aug 27 '12 at 13:39
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@Torpour, I wonder if the Learner's Dictionary you have been consulting is too basic for the type of reading that you are evidently doing. (Good job reading more difficult things!) – JLG Aug 27 '12 at 13:50
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Interestingly, the definition seems to be roughly the opposite of torpour. No wonder you are having trouble with it. ;-) – T.E.D. Aug 27 '12 at 14:03
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@T.E.D.: Torpour? - I think that may be taking US/UK spelling differences a little too far! – FumbleFingers Aug 27 '12 at 16:09
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Unbelievable! A question closed as general reference that is actually general reference! – Marthaª Aug 27 '12 at 16:47

closed as general reference by JSBձոգչ, Andrew Leach, Robusto, FumbleFingers, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Aug 27 '12 at 16:42

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

2 Answers

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The OED says that perfervid, with the meaning of “very fervid, glowing, or ardent,” is a new word for English, one unseen in print before the latter have of the 19th century. Here are some of its citations from the OED:

  • 1856 Masson Ess., Scot. Infl. Brit. Lit. 395 ― Without maintaining at present that all Scotchmen are perfervid··it will be enough to refer to the instances which prove at least that some Scotchmen have this character.
  • 1875 Helps Soc. Press. xxii. 339 ― The next generation has something in it of the brilliant nature of the Irish, or the perfervid nature of the Scotch.
  • 1884 Howells in Harper’s Mag. Dec. 115/2 ― With perfervid gratitude.

Derived forms include:

Hence perferˈvidity, perˈfervidness, also ˈperfervour, perfervid quality.

  • 1861 J. Brown Horæ Subs. Ser. ii. 425 ― This perfervor of our Scottish love-songs.
  • 1884 Sat. Rev. 1 Nov. 559/2 ― We are disposed to regret these manifestations and consequences of the perfervidity of Birmingham.
  • 1890 Spectator 4 Oct., ― The characteristic of the Scotchman is perfervidness, exhibiting itself in strenuosity, in enthusiasm, and in excess.

I rather like perfervor from 1861; it reminds me of Spanish por favor. :)

Perfervid derives from Latin, but “modern” rather than classical Latin:

Etymology: ad. mod.L. perfervid-us, f. per- 4 + fervidus fervid; chiefly in the phrase perfervidum ingenium Scotorum, founded on Buchanan’s Scotorum præfervida ingenia (Rerum Scotic. Hist. XVI. li.). Perfervidus, though quite regular in form, is not recorded in ancient Latin; an instance of perfervida formerly cited from Columella v. 5 is an erroneous reading in Gesner’s ed. (1737) for præfervida.

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What would be a synonym for perfervid in the OP's sentence, do you think? I'm not sure I understand the contrast between lithograph and perfervid in the sentence. Is lithograph here used to mean flat or containing just one color? – JLG Aug 27 '12 at 14:32
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@JLG What about preferring something livelier, or brighter? – tchrist Aug 27 '12 at 14:52
@JLG: The sentence doesn't really make sense without its context, and also, the OP slightly misquoted it; so, see books.google.com/…. It's not contrasting "lithograph" with "perfervid"; on the contrary, it presents lithographs as being more perfervid (or at least, more fervid) than etchings, and acknowledges that etchings, or etching-like gardens, aren't for everyone. – ruakh Aug 27 '12 at 14:58
@ruakh, I think your comment deserves to be an answer! – JLG Aug 27 '12 at 15:32
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In all such cases, it's good to start with:

define perfervid

(or your word to checkout), on Google.

1. per·fer·vid/pərˈfərvid/
Adjective:
Intense and impassioned.
Synonyms:
ardent - fiery - glowing - fervent - passionate - hot
More info »Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster - The Free Dictionary

You can then continue on to the 'More info' links.

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If you have nothing better to do than down voting, then please don't do it here. – Kris Aug 27 '12 at 14:47
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But it's ok for people who do have better things to do than downvoting, to do their downvoting here? Seems to me that that's a far larger class of people, and a mistake to encourage. – jwpat7 Aug 27 '12 at 15:04

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