Etymograph

English

caprify

Caprify comes from Latin caprifīcus ‘the 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‘the wild fig tree’
  5. Englishtodaycaprify3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caper
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin caprificus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English caprify

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 caprify‘the wild fig tree’
  5. EnglishtodaycaprifyWiktionary, English caprify

Formed from ify

Linked words

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

cabriolet, 16 more

through Latin caper ‘male goat’

chevron, 14 more

Today it means

verb To pollinate (figs) by caprification.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caprify”; 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 / caprify

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