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ardent

/ˈɑːrdənt/

Passionately enthusiastic; intensely devoted or fiery

From Latin ardē- / ardent- (to burn).

adjective
ardē- / ardent-
Latin
Verified
ardēre; ardentem (ardēns)
To burn; glowing, fiery, hot, or ablaze; ardentem is the source form of the English adjective.

from Latin ardentem (nominative ardens ) "glowing, fiery, hot, ablaze," also used figuratively of passions, present...

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Old French
Verified
ardant
Burning or hot; later also zealous and passionate.

from Old French ardant "burning, hot; zealous" (13c.)

Anglo-Norman
Verified
ardent
Borrowed into the varieties of French used in England.

from Latin ardentem (nominative ardens ) "glowing, fiery, hot, ablaze," also used figuratively of passions, present...

+1 more source
Middle English
AI-inferred
ardaunt
First attested around the 14th century, initially retaining the literal sense of burning or flammable.
Modern English
ardent
“

Picture a medieval distiller holding up a cup of brandy and discovering that it could catch fire: early English used ardent for precisely that kind of flammable “burning” quality. The word arrived in Middle English as ardaunt around the 14th century, traveling from Latin ardēre through Old French ardant and Anglo-Norman ardent. Latin then turned physical heat into emotional heat: a person could burn with desire, zeal, or anger just as a wick burns with flame. That makes ardent a close cousin of ardor, while fervent follows a different boiling-hot Latin family and vehement originally suggested someone being carried away by emotion. Even today, “ardent spirits” preserves the old connection with distilled alcohol, while an ardent admirer keeps the metaphorical flame alive.

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