Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Intensity of emotion, especially strong desire, enthusiasm, or devotion. synonym: passion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Intense heat: as, the ardor of the sun's rays.
  • noun In pathology, a feeling of heat or burning.
  • noun A bright or effulgent spirit.
  • noun Warmth or heat, as of the passions and affections; eagerness; intensity.
  • noun Synonyms Fervor, fervency, vehemence, intensity, impetuosity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Heat, in a literal sense.
  • noun Warmth or heat of passion or affection; eagerness; zeal
  • noun Thus used by Milton. Bright and effulgent spirits; seraphim.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Great warmth of feeling; fervor; passion.
  • noun Spirit.
  • noun  Intense heat.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun intense feeling of love
  • noun a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause)
  • noun feelings of great warmth and intensity

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ardour, from Old French, from Latin ārdor, from ārdēre, to burn; see as- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman ardour, from Latin ardor, from ardere ("to burn").

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Examples

  • July 22, 2006, 8: 49 am levitra says: levitra remonstrating Deutsch dodecahedron Robbin ardor

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Forget All We Ever Said About Online Surveys: 2004

  • In both, they seem to compete with us, and in ardor and activity they even surpass most of our savans.

    Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz 1939

  • Death’s ardor is returned by a young woman who must decide, as the end of his stay nears, whether love is stronger than death.

    2009 May 25 « One-Minute Book Reviews 2009

  • Death’s ardor is returned by a young woman who must decide, as the end of his stay nears, whether love is stronger than death.

    2009 May « One-Minute Book Reviews 2009

  • He made Jerry Lee Lewis's panting musical rants of wolf-calling ardor look like a Sunday Comics installment of January Jones.

    Big Bopper Update Bill Crider 2007

  • He gestured to the space between them, as if their ardor were a tangible entity.

    Rhapsody In Time Judith O’Brien 1994

  • He gestured to the space between them, as if their ardor were a tangible entity.

    Rhapsody In Time Judith O’Brien 1994

  • Her ardor was a trifle dampened by his voice, but she found new thrills in the gas-stove, a most dramatic instrument to play.

    We Can't Have Everything Rupert Hughes 1914

  • The seeds of my ardor were the sparks from that divine flame whereby more than a thousand have kindled; I speak of the

    My Ántonia Willa Sibert Cather 1910

  • Their ardor is their crown, before which the languid and the passive bow.

    Pushing to the Front Orison Swett Marden 1887

Comments

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  • "He'd seen me kill her, right in front of his eyes. Granted, she'd betrayed and tortured him, and that should have doused his ardor, right there." -Club Dead, by Charlaine Harris

    February 5, 2011

  • I was surprised by his religious ardor, for he spoke as if fighting an army, but controlled as if holding a child. His ardor proclaimed his dominance, and he was never to be questioned again. He sleeps now, his ardor restrained, but it fights against the chains as the sun races his spirit to reach the beginning of a new day.

    March 20, 2011