-ferous
/-fəɹəs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “bearing an entity or entities as specified by the noun”.
suffix
Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “producing a material as specified by the noun”.
suffix
Used to form adjectives from nouns, with the sense “containing a material as specified by the noun”.
Example Sentences
- "flagellum + -i- + -ferous → flagelliferous (“bearing a flagellum”)"
- "flos, floris + -i- + -ferous → floriferous (“bearing flowers”)"
- "nectar + -i- + -ferous → nectariferous (“producing nectar”)"
- "nickel + -i- + -ferous → nickeliferous (“containing nickel”)"
- "cadmium + -i- + -ferous → cadmiferous (“containing cadmium”)"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti Proto-Italic *ferō Latin ferō Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.? Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos? Old Latin -ōssus Latin -ōsus Old French -usbor. Middle English -ous English -ous English -ferous From Latin ferō (“to bear”) + English -ous.