ferae naturae
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of ferae naturae
1655–65; < Latin: literally, of a wild nature
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Orchids must be classed with ferae naturae in which a landowner has no property.
From The Woodlands Orchids by Boyle, Frederick
In the Ettrick text Douglas says that there are no supplies, merely ferae naturae, but he will wait at Otterburn to give Percy his chance.
From Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy by Lang, Andrew
At one end of it, the northern, a patch of the turf was gone—removed by some boy or other creature ferae naturae.
From Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by James, M. R. (Montague Rhodes)
But I am not muzzled yet: they shall find me one of the ferae naturae.
From Anna St. Ives by Holcroft, Thomas
He didn’t mind any amount of chaff, and devoted himself to the pursuit of ferae naturae with a perseverance which was literally as laid down by the copy-books—its own reward.
From The Fire Trumpet A Romance of the Cape Frontier by Mitford, Bertram
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
