ardour
English
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
ardour (countable and uncountable, plural ardours)
- Britain, Canada, and Australia spelling of ardor
- 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, OCLC 830979744, page 120:
- I rushed towards her, and embraced her with ardour; but the deathly languor and coldness of the limbs told me, that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished.
- 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 6:
- The purpose of my visit, and the frightful abnormalities it postulated struck at me all at once with a chill sensation that nearly over-balanced my ardour for strange delvings.
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Translations
ardour — see ardor
Middle English
Alternative forms
- ardoure, ardowr, ardure
Etymology
Borrowed from Anglo-Norman ardour, ardur, from Latin ārdor, ārdōrem; compare ardaunt.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /arˈduːr/, /ˈardur/
Noun
ardour (plural ardours) (rare, Late Middle English)
- ardour (emotional passion or intensity)
- A fiery, painful feeling.
Descendants
- English: ardor, ardour
References
- “ardǒur, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old French
Noun
ardour f (oblique plural ardours, nominative singular ardour, nominative plural ardours)
- Late Anglo-Norman spelling of ardur
- toun ardour et l’estudie de aprendre […] deit estre provee