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Origin and history of fury

fury(n.)

late 14c., furie, in mythology, "one of the Furies, an avenging spirit;" early 15c., "fierce passion of anger or hatred;" from Old French furie, fuire "rage, frenzy" (14c.), from Latin furia "violent passion, rage, madness," from or related to furere "to rage, be mad," which is of uncertain origin. "Many etymologies have been proposed, but none is clearly the best" [de Vaan].

The Romans used Furiæ to translate Greek Erinyes, the collective name for the avenging deities sent from Tartarus to punish criminals (in later accounts three in number and female; see Erinys). Hence, in English, figuratively, "an angry woman" (late 14c.).

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to fury

Erinys(n.)

(plural Erinyes), one of the three female spirits (Alēctō, Tisiphonē, Megaera), avengers of iniquity in Greek religion; a word of which Beekes writes, "In sum, there is no good lE etymology and the word is probably Pre-Greek." They were identified with the Roman Furies. Related: Erinnic; Erinnical (1610s).

furious(adj.)

late 14c., "impetuous, unrestrained," from Old French furios, furieus "furious, enraged, livid" (14c., Modern French furieux), from Latin furiosus "full of rage, mad," from furia "rage, passion, fury" (see fury). Furioso, from the Italian form of the word, was used in English 17c.-18c. for "an enraged person," probably from Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso."

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Trends of fury

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

delirium
1590s, "a disordered state, more or less temporary, of the mind, often occurring during fever or illness," from Latin delirium "madness," from deliriare "be crazy, rave," literally "go off the furrow," a plowing metaphor, from phrase de lire, from de "off, away" (see de-) + lira
hysteria
nervous disease, 1801, coined in medical Latin as an abstract noun from Greek hystera "womb," from PIE *udtero-, variant of *udero- "abdomen, womb, stomach" (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the
rage
c. 1300, "madness, insanity; fit of frenzy; rashness, foolhardiness, intense or violent emotion, anger, wrath; fierceness in battle; violence" (of storms, fire, etc.), from Old French rage, raige "spirit, passion, rage, fury, madness" (11c.), from Medieval Latin rabia, from Latin
alyssum
perhaps the neuter of adjective alyssos "curing madness," from a- "not, without" (see a- (3)) + lyssa "madness, martial rage, fury...
impotence
The figurative senses of the word in Latin were "violence, fury, unbridled passion," via the notion of "want of self-restraining...
wood
Proto-Germanic *woda- (source also of Gothic woþs "possessed, mad," Old High German wuot "mad, madness," German wut "rage, fury...
igneous
figuratively "ardent, vehement," from ignis "fire, a fire," extended to "brightness, splendor, glow;" figuratively "rage, fury...
ire
c. 1300, from Old French ire "anger, wrath, violence" (11c.), from Latin ira "anger, wrath, rage, passion," from PIE root *eis- (1), forming various words denoting passion (source also of Greek hieros "filled with the divine, holy," oistros "gadfly," originally "thing causing mad
mania
late 14c., "mental derangement characterized by excitement and delusion," from Late Latin mania "insanity, madness," from Greek mania "madness, frenzy; enthusiasm, inspired frenzy; mad passion, fury," related to mainesthai "to rage, go mad," mantis "seer," menos "passion, spirit,
ferocity
c. 1600, from French férocité, from Latin ferocitatem (nominative ferocitas) "fierceness," from ferocis, oblique case of ferox "bold, courageous, warlike; fierce, savage, headstrong, cruel," literally "wild-looking," a derivative of ferus "wild" (from PIE root *ghwer- "wild beast

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