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-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

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