-ferous Also -iferous.
Having, bearing or containing something.
[Latin ferre, to carry or bear, plus -ous.]
Many words have been formed in this ending, especially in the life and earth sciences; for some examples Strictly the ending is -ferous from its Latin origin, but in every case there is an i before the ending (see -i-) so that the usual form is -iferous. See also -fera.
Examples of words in -ferous
All word origins are from Latin unless otherwise stated.
| auriferous | of rocks or minerals that contain gold | aurum, gold |
| carboniferous | containing or bearing carbon, especially in reference to the geological period in which coal measures were laid down | from carbon |
| coniferous | of a type of tree that bears cones | conus, cone |
| cruciferous | denoting plants of the cabbage family, the Cruciferae | crux, cross; so named because the flowers have four petals arranged crosswise |
| floriferous | of a plant producing many flowers | flos, flor-, a flower |
| fossiliferous | describing rocks that contain fossils | English fossil |
| luminiferous | producing or transmitting light | lumen, light |
| metalliferous | bearing or producing metal | metallum, metal |
| odoriferous | having or giving off a smell, especially an unpleasant one | odor, smell or scent |
| pestiferous | harbouring infection and disease, or figuratively, being a pest or nuisance | pestifer, bringing pestilence |
| seminiferous | producing or conveying semen | semen, seed |
| splendiferous | splendid | English splendour |
| umbelliferous | bearing flowers arranged in clusters or umbels | umbella, sunshade, from the shape of the clusters, from umbra, shadow |
| vociferous | vehement or clamorous | vox, voc-, voice |
Visit Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words site for 2000+ articles on English!
Copyright © Michael Quinion 2008–. All rights reserved. Page last updated 23 September 2008.
Your comments and suggestions on the site are very welcome.