Crossword Dictionary
FERVENT
fervent, fervid - a
extremely hot; "the fervent heat...merely communicated a genial warmth to their half-torpid systems"- Nathaniel Hawthorne; "set out...when the fervid heat subsides"- Frances Trollope
Synonyms
ardent, devout, earnest, ecstatic, emotional, heartfelt, impassioned, intense, passionate, pious, religious, sincere, vehement, zealous
Examples
They were sent on their way with the good wishes of the fervent crowd.
For great stretches of that time my overwhelming thought was a fervent wish not to see another day.
Suffice to say there was a fervent desire on both sides to get things over and done with as quickly as possible.
Etymology
mid-14c., from Old French fervent "fervent, ardent" (12c.), from Latin ferventem (nominative fervens) "boiling, hot, glowing," figuratively "violent, impetuous, furious," present participle of fervere "to boil, glow," from PIE root *bhreu- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn." The figurative sense of "impassioned" is first attested c. 1400. Related: Fervency; fervently.