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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