Pyrexial

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Referring to an abnormal increase in body temperature typically arising from an illness or infection
2. Describing a medical condition where the body temperature is significantly elevated, often as a response to illness or infection
3. Pertaining to a state marked by elevated body heat due to illness

Etymology: "Pyrexial" is a straightforward formation: it takes "pyrexia," the medical term for fever, and adds the suffix "-al," meaning "relating to." So a pyrexial state is one characterised by fever, and the adjective lets clinicians describe a patient or a condition as feverish without reaching for a longer phrase. The suffix has a long road into English. It comes from Latin "-ālis," which passed into Old French as "-al" and "-el," and reached Middle English as "-al." English has used that ending freely for centuries to turn nouns into adjectives, from "national" to "musical," so "pyrexial" follows a very common pattern. The base word "pyrexia" is itself a modern coinage built from Greek roots. Its first element, "pyr," means fire, and the second, "-exia," comes from the Greek "hexis," meaning a state or condition. The word therefore literally describes a state of fire, a fitting image for a body running hot.

Synonyms: feverish, febrile, heated, inflamed, agitated

Antonyms: cool, calm, relaxed, unperturbed, normal