Etymograph

English

acidiferous

Acidiferous comes from Latin acidus ‘sour, acid’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-1‘sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akēō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaceō1‘to be sour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacidus2‘sour, acid’
  6. Englishtodayacidiferous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin acidus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English acidiferous

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-Wiktionary, Latin acidus‘sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱéh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin acidusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akēōWiktionary, Latin acidusreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaceōWiktionary, Latin acidus‘to be sour’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacidusWiktionary, English acidiferous‘sour, acid’
  6. EnglishtodayacidiferousWiktionary, English acidiferous

Formed from ferous

Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰweh₁r-

Latin ferus ‘wild, savage, fierce, cruel’

English ferous

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’

hear, edge, egg, ear, hammer, eager, acute, axe, vinegar, oxide, acne, mediocre, paragon, mediocrity, acupuncture, hark, acumen, acme, exacerbate, acacia, acuity, acrimony, rosacea, exacerbation, acrid, acerbic, 72 more

through Latin aceō ‘to be sour’

acetate, acyl, 23 more

through Latin acidus ‘sour, acid’

roselle, 8 more

Today it means

adj Containing or yielding an acid.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “acidiferous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin acidus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- / acidiferous

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