English
infertile
Infertile comes from Late Latin infertilis ‘infertile, sterile, unfruitful’, from Latin fertilis ‘fertile’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to carry, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilis‘fertile’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEinfertilis‘infertile, sterile, unfruitful’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600infertile
- Englishearliest quotation 1989same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō‘to carry, bear’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfertilis‘fertile’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEinfertilis‘infertile, sterile, unfruitful’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600infertile
- Englishearliest quotation 1989same form
Earliest quotation: 1989, Uwe George, Venezuela's Islands in Time: “The soil was so infertile that most vegetation could…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, bread, burden, prefer, barrel, fortune, bearing, barn, bore, fury, baron, breeze, bark, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, berth, ferret, bahar, insufferable, bier, furtive, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, proffer, 116 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphate, phosphorus, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, phosphine, indifferently, 94 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, differentiation, indifferent, deference, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 71 more
through Latin ferō ‘to carry, bear’
different, difference, offer, reference, transfer, relative, translation, extraordinary, relate, relation, suffer, translate, frustration, referendum, strangely, differ, referee, extravagant, frustrate, elated, defer, extraneous, strangeness, confer, ablation, elation, infra, collation, collate, dilate, oblate, estrange, ablative, efferent, 80 more
through Latin fertilis ‘fertile’
Today it means
adj Not fertile.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / infertile