ferrum

ferrum (countable and uncountable, plural ferrums)

1. (homeopathy) Any of various remedies made from iron-containing compounds.

A substrate loanword from an unknown source. According to de Vaan, possibly from a Phoenician dialect[1], 𐤁𐤓𐤆𐤋‎ (brzl //barzel//, “iron”), akin to Aramaic פַּרְזְלָא‎ / ܦܪܙܠܐ‎ (parzəlā, “iron”), Akkadian 𒀭𒁇 (/parzillu/, “iron”), Ugaritic 𐎁𐎗𐎏𐎍 (brḏl, “iron”), considered of Anatolian origin[2]. The word could have entered Latin through Etruscan.[3]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfer.rum/, [ˈfɛr.rũ]

ferrum n (genitive ferrī); second declension

1. iron
2. any tool made of iron

   Synonym: chalybs

   1. sword

      Urbi ferrō flammāque minitatus est.

      He threatened the city with fire and sword.

      Ferro incumbere.

      To fall on his sword.

      Hyponyms: ēnsis, gladius

3. fight, clash
   • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 45.6:

     Non est miscix. ferrum optimum daturus est, sine fuga, carnarium in medio, ut amphitheater videat.

     He is no flibbertigibbet, he will give the best fight, without flight, a carnage in the middle, so that the whole amphitheater will see it.

   • c. 161, Dig. XXVIII.I.8.4 Gaius libro septimo decimo ad edictum provinciale

     Hi vero, qui ad ferrum aut ad bestias aut in metallum damnantur, libertatem perdunt bonaque eorum publicantur: unde apparet amittere eos testamenti factionem.

     But those sentenced to fight in the arena or with the beasts or to work in the mines lose freedom and their assets are forfeited: hence one sees that the efficacy of their last will must be denied.

   Synonyms: pugna, gladius

Second declension.

• ferrūgō

• ferrum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ferrum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ferrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• ferrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to cut one's way (through the enemies' ranks): ferro viam facere (per confertos hostes)
    
  • to ravage with fire and sword: omnia ferro ignique, ferro atque igni or ferro flammaque vastare
    
  • to fight a pitched battle: acie (armis, ferro) decernere
    
  • all have perished by the sword: omnia strata sunt ferro
    
  • (ambiguous) to fly aloft; to be carried into the sky: sublimem or sublime (not in sublime or sublimiter) ferri, abire
    
  • (ambiguous) to be in every one's mouth: per omnium ora ferri
    
  • (ambiguous) to feel an attraction for study: trahi, ferri ad litteras
    
  • (ambiguous) to feel inspired: divino quodam instinctu concitari, ferri (Div. 1. 31. 66)
    
  • (ambiguous) to take a higher tone (especially of poets and orators): exsurgere altius or incitatius ferri
    
  • (ambiguous) to be carried away by one's passions: libidine ferri
    
  • (ambiguous) to be carried away by something: praecipitem ferri aliqua re (Verr. 5. 46. 121)
    
  • (ambiguous) to have no principles: caeco impetu ferri
    
  • (ambiguous) to throw oneself heart and soul into politics: studio ad rem publicam ferri
    
  • (ambiguous) to throw oneself on the enemy with drawn sword: strictis gladiis in hostem ferri
    
• ferrum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ferrum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin