Where does “fossiliferous” come from?
Fossiliferous comes from English fossil and English -ferous, which derives from Latin -ifer, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰer- meaning to carry or bear.
fossiliferous (English): Containing fossils
Ancestry of “fossiliferous”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ferous | Used to form adjectives from nouns, producing the... |
| 2 | English | -ous | Used to form adjectives from nouns, to denote... |
| 3 | Middle English | -ous | — |
| 4 | Old French | -us | -ous, used for forming adjectives |
| 5 | Latin | -ōsus | — |
| 6 | Old Latin | -ōssus | — |
Words derived from “fossiliferous”