ferocIty

[Fr. féroc ité, from Lat. ferocitas, from ferox (gen it. ferocis )=fierce, from fer us = wild.] The state of being ferocious; savagene , fiercene , wildne , fury. kindle the sullen ferocity of a priest hood."-Macaulay: Hist. Crabb thus discriminates between ferocious , fierce , and savage : Ferocity marks the untamed character of a cruel disposition: fiercene has a greater mixture of pride and anger in it, the word fiers in French being taken for haughtine : savage ne marks a more permanent, but not so violent sentiment of either cruelty or anger as the two former. Ferocity and fiercene are in common applied to the brutes, to designate their natural tempers: savage is mostly employed to designate the natural temper of man, when uncontrolled by the force of reason and a sense of religion. In an extended application of these terms, they bear the same relation to each other: the countenance may be either ferocious , fierce , or savage , according to circumstances. A robber who spends his life in the act of unlawfully shedding blood acquires a ferocity of countenance: a soldier who follows a predatory and desultory mode of warfare betrays the licentiousne of his calling and his undisciplined temper in the fiercene of his countenance; the tyrant whose enjoyment consists in inflicting misery on his dependents or subjects evinces the savagene of his temper by the savage joy with which he witno es their groans and tortures." (Crabb: Eng. Synon )