Etymograph

English

caprification

Caprification comes from Latin caprifīcus ‘wild fig tree’, from caper ‘male goat’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kápros.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kápros1‘buck, he-goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapros1‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaper2‘male goat’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaprifīcus3‘wild fig tree’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaprifīcātiōnem3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1789caprification3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caper
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin caprificus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English caprification
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants: “I should conjecture […] that the caprification is either…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káprosWiktionary, Latin caper‘buck, he-goat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaprosWiktionary, Latin caper‘he-goat’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaperWiktionary, Latin caprificus‘male goat’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaprifīcusWiktionary, English caprification‘wild fig tree’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaprifīcātiōnemWiktionary, English caprification
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1789caprificationWiktionary, English caprification. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants: “I should conjecture […] that the caprification is either…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kápros ‘buck, he-goat’

cabriolet, 16 more

through Latin caper ‘male goat’

chevron, 14 more

Today it means

noun A process for ripening, or pollinating, figs by means of their being punctured artificially, in a manner designed to replicate the way they are pierced by certain insects, which was once thought to aid in their reproduction.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caprification”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin caper, Latin caprificus. 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 *kápros / caprification

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