Where does “fertile” come from?

Fertile comes from Old French fertile, from Latin fertilis, from Latin fero meaning "to bear or carry," from Proto-Indo-European bʰer- with the same sense.

fertile (English): capable of growing abundant crops; productive;...

Definitions

  1. capable of growing abundant crops; productive;...

Ancestry of “fertile”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchfertile
2Latinfertilisfruitful, fertile; productive
3Latin-ilis-ile
4Proto-Italic-elis
5Proto-Indo-European-elis
6Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “fertile

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lósEvery word from Latin -ilisEvery word from Latin fertilis
fertile — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer